Dolohov's Regret
by SnuggleKitten69
Summary: Dolohov contemplates his actions and regrets one in particular. This originally started as a one-shot but refused to let go of my muse. This story will get updated intermittently between SLY2 and ATEOATs. HP/HG/LL/GD/PPx2 am considering renaming this to "Dances with Snorkacks"
1. Regrets - Budapest

-o-o-o-o-o-

December 2, 1998, 3:52 am, The Danube River, Budapest, Hungary

-o-o-o-o-o-

It was a cold December morning.

Antonin Gregorovich Dolohov stood on the grotesquely modern dock, awaiting the barge.

He had been contemplating all that had happened since that dreadful June evening in 1996.

He could remember that night, and his fateful mistake, with the clarity of a pensieve projection.

He could not recall how he had managed to escape to Budapest. The paths were too convoluted - too numerous to keep track of the million decisions it had taken him to get here.

"How could I have been so stupid?" he thought. He'd cast the spell on dozens of half-bloods and mudbloods. This was the first, and last, time it would kill him.

The Danube looked like an empty field of blackness as the lights from the smoking factories and container cranes sparkled like diamonds in the wind-driven undulations of the water.

He looked up in surprise, his wand suddenly in his hand, as the round bumpers of the barge gently squeaked against the concrete of the dock.

No expensive gangplanks for the dead, it seemed.

The flat scow was covered with stacks of plain, wooden coffins. It was nothing more than a vessel for unfinished sentences, unrealised dreams, incomplete errands, and unresolved regrets.

He nodded to the boatman as he hopped down to what passed as decking on the barge and quickly turned his gaze upwards. The cracked, scarred timbers reminded him too much of the safe house in Minsk where his last few remaining NKVD comrades had held up - he had been there less than a day when his hunter found them and incinerated them to fine, white ash.

He ducked between the stacked crates and hoped he had gone unnoticed. He had checked himself several times, using different methods, to ensure he had no trace or monitoring charms on himself, his belongings, and his wand. He could find no hint of foreign magics.

He sat heavily upon the deck, still masked by coffins, just to take a moment of rest while the crew did their grisly work.

After what seemed an eternity, the barge slipped away from the pier almost silently; only a slight sound of worn rubber against concrete gave away its departure. He may have slept a few moments, but he was not certain.

His liaison for the Slavic Brotherhood had told him the Brotherhood contact would meet him on the barge. Now that it had slipped its moorings, he stood and became more alert. Other than the lights of the harbor, the only illumination was the boatman's lantern and the dim navigation lights - blood red and killing-curse green.

He tensed, or would have, at the sound. He knew the sound well. He'd done it himself a small number of times to others - when he had slid his knife between the first and second vertebrae and pithed a guard to prevent them from crying out while the mess was kept to a minimum.

He found himself in a full body bind. The only thing he could move were his eyes. He presumed whomever had caught him also placed a sticking charm so he would not fall over due to the gentle swaying of the deck.

"Antonin, it has been far too long," the voice of his hunter silkily washed over him like a gentle breeze.

He felt a hand glide up over his back to rest upon his shoulder.

"I missed you by just a few minutes in Cairo and only by a few moments in Minsk," he heard from just behind his right ear.

"I do like the location you've chosen for our final meeting, however," the hunter whispered breathily. "It's so appropriate."

Finally coming into his line of sight, he looked into his killer's ethereal grey eyes. He would have mewled in panic and fear, were he able, as she withdrew a short, sharp knife.

"And now, we dance..." were the last words he would ever hear.


	2. Aftermath - Pyrford

**Aftermath**

The signal bell for the inbound apparition point within the manor rang. Hermione looked up at the clock and was surprised it was half six in the morning. "_Harry is going to be annoyed with me. Again!_" she thought.

She placed a bejeweled bookmark in the book, set it on the side table next to her chair, stood, and walked towards the apparition point.

She opened the doors to the library and was immediately assailed by the aromas of fresh-baked bread and slow-roasted meats. Her stomach grumbled loudly as her salivary glands seemed determined to flood her mouth in anticipation of consuming said scrumptious food.

Desperately ignoring the scents coming from the labours of Harry's combined irritation with her reading too late and his concern over Luna not having checked in as scheduled, Hermione continued walking towards the foyer while running the list of people on the apparition authorised list. "_It isn't Neville, Susan, or Hannah – they would always owl ahead first. Not Fred nor George – Angelina and Katie are still keeping them busy growing the family. Not Remus nor Rolanda – they're still in Spain. Not Sirius nor Ginny – they're likely still asleep from a three-week-long shag_." She continued through the rather short list of people, ignoring the most obvious choice. She knew it had to be someone they trusted, or the house elves would have rung the intruder bell and the thestrals would have food for a week.

At least that's what had happened the last time someone had been foolish enough to try to break through the wards with ill intent. She smiled at the memory of the look on Draco's face when Harry had given him the Malfoy head-of-house ring and announced to the Great Hall that he hoped the new Lord Malfoy was a better friend than the previous one had been. Draco's face had gone from disdain to anger, to sorrow, to calculating, then finally rested on a smile Hermione would later describe as him being genuinely happy for the first time in his life.

Draco had immediately put the ring on, claimed his status as Lord Malfoy, dissolved his betrothal to Pansy, and rushed over to embrace Millicent Bulstrode in a hug that turned into a kiss that became too intimate for the other students in the Great Hall.

It had only taken Hermione a small amount of guile and magic to tip the scales for the elder Malfoy to become enraged and careless enough to attack the wards of Potter Manor directly without any support.

Lost in thought and sporting a small smile, Hermione never saw the spell until it was on its way or the blonde-haired, grey-eyed, bushy-haired-witch-seeking missile until it hit her and she was spun around by the tangential trajectory of the impact.

The cushioning charm Luna had cast on Hermione's body had the two witches floating in air and a moaning, crying, deliriously happy Luna giving Hermione mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, if such required lots of tongue and needful, roaming hands slipping beneath the sleep shirt and knickers Hermione was wearing.

After a rather wet, nose-breathing-required, desperate kiss, Luna pulled back and looked at Hermione. "By the Goddess have I missed you!" Luna cried out, tears running down her cheeks before she clamped on to Hermione's mouth again.

Hermione, too, was euphorically ecstatic that their errant little witch had returned. In her mind, all was not right in the world unless she had Harry and Luna within arm's reach of her. Her fingers deftly unbuttoned Luna's blouse and were about to undo the smaller witch's brassiere to achieve more skin contact when she felt Luna's warm body suddenly against her. Luna broke the kiss.

"Thank you, Tippy," both Luna and Hermione said in unison, as they felt their clothes vanished and their warm bodies touching one another.

"Actually, Tippy is watching breakfast for me," they both heard the amusement in Harry's voice. As Luna was atop Hermione and Hermione floated upon the cushioning charm, they both looked in the direction of his voice and saw a delectably naked Harry slowly walking towards them.

Both girls were immediately reminded of the reasons Harry was still sought after by most of the witches in the magical realms of the world.

Many would claim he was desired for the wealth he had inherited from the House of Potter, or the rewards he'd accumulated from the slaying of Tom Riddle, or the spoils awarded to him in the form of fines levied against issueless death eater families, or the income from the sale of the carcass of the basilisk.

Some would speculate it was due to his virility as both a warrior in physical strength and a wizard in magical ability.

For both of them, it was the genuine love with which Harry approached them.

He floated the two of them over to him and brought them upright so he could hug them both properly.

"By the grace of the Grey Lady, have I missed you!" Harry exclaimed as he looked at Luna and pulled both witches to him tightly. Magic coalesced around the trio as all thoughts of any distractions fled.

Without even the tell-tale pop of apparition, the corridor was suddenly empty. At the same time, the luxuriously large bath within the master suite splashed as three entwined bodies suddenly entered the blood-warm water.

-o-O-o-O-o-

Hours later, a fully-sated trio dozed in bed. Harry was the first to fully awaken. He felt Hermione on his right, using his chest as a pillow. He looked down at her and noted she had drooled on his stomach. For him, this was a sign she was truly content.

He felt the body on his left stir and looked over. Luna had been snuggled firmly against him with her head buried in the pit of his arm. She lifted her head and looked at Hermione before she looked up at Harry.

"Good morning, Beloved," Harry whispered happily to her.

"I doubt it is still morning, Cuddles," Luna replied. She disentangled her arms from Hermione's sleeping form and kissed Harry quickly, "I'll be right back!" she softly exclaimed as she slid off the bed and daintily ran to the loo.

With the jostling of the bed, Hermione, too, began to awaken. She raised her head slightly, slurping a bit of her drool before her cheeks cherried in embarrassment at her habitual actions. "I was having the best dream," she said with a hint of sadness. "Luna had come home and we were…"

Harry shushed her by running his hands through her hair. "Silly witch. That was no dream. She'll be back directly," he said softly.

True to his word, a freshened and refreshed Luna stalked back into sight, walked around the bed, and curled up behind Hermione. She kissed Hermione behind her ear and wrapped an arm around her.

"My turn!" Harry said as he extricated himself from Hermione and rushed away.

"What the…?" Hermione groused before realising where he'd gone off to. She, too, suddenly had the same urge. Fortunately, the master suite had more than one such facility.

Harry re-entered the room and flopped down on the bed. He pulled Luna up against him. "Done?" he asked.

Luna smiled and nodded into his chest. "With this one, at least. Only three more to go," she replied then sighed in contentment. "I'm just happy I was able to complete this one before Yule. I wanted it to be special for her." She wriggled and pulled herself in tighter. "And for you."

"Family magics again?" he asked, curious to know if, yet again, she'd used her mother's family's magic to find her prey. He felt her shake her head in the negative.

"Too costly. Myrtle was willing to help again. She really likes Hermione and appreciates her friendship," Luna whispered. She sat up suddenly and looked at him with a mischievous smile. "He kept checking everything for tracking charms. He never thought to do a spirit walker detection spell," she said gleefully.

Harry snorted. "Stupid wizards," he replied with a laugh.

"Are you talking about the youngest Weasley boy again," Hermione asked as she re-entered the room.

Luna looked over and smiled. "No, we were talking about my new ring! Wanna see?" she asked in her best imitation of an excited little girl's voice. This wasn't actually much of a hardship for Luna since she was, at times, an excited little girl.

Hermione smiled as she sat on the bed behind Luna and put her hand on the younger witch's bare belly. "Let me see!" she quietly demanded.

Luna closed her eyes and released the spells which hid the ring. Hermione's eyes widened as the Dolohov family ring appeared on Luna's finger, fitting perfectly. "To the victor, the spoils," Luna sing-songed with a wry smile. She tugged the ring off, took Hermione's hand, extended her ring finger, and slid the ring on.

Hermione gasped at the feeling of the ring accepting her as its new Lady and Master.

"There! Happy Early Yule gift!" Luna said, pulling a still-surprised Hermione down for a quick peck.

Hermione's expression softened. She leaned down to a smug Luna, "Thank you, My Beautiful and Beloved," she whispered formally and tenderly kissed her. The moment of seriousness was broken by Luna's and Harry's snorting at Hermione's loud borborygmi.

"We'd best feed the nundu animagus before she eats us!" Luna said with a giggle.

Harry raised an eyebrow at Hermione's demure embarrassment. "Well, if SOMEONE would come eat dinner and not stay up all hours reading…" Harry trailed off.

"I know. I'm sorry. It won't happen again," Hermione said contritely.

Harry leaned over and, before their lips met, softly told Hermione, "Don't make promises you can't keep, Mione-Love," and then closed the hair's-breadth distance and kissed her deeply. He broke off the kiss when Hermione's stomach growled again.

"Come on! Pancakes!" Luna exclaimed happily before gently pushing Hermione up.

-o-O-o-O-o-

After an exceedingly odd breakfast of pancakes, roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, poached eggs, salmon, scones, clotted cream, and strawberry jam imported from France, the trio returned to the master suite to prepare for the waking world.

"Did you two want to go shopping today, lounge around and read, or perform more experiments on the various formulations of stamina potions Hermione is working on?" Harry asked as he gestured salaciously with his eyebrows at the last suggestion.

"I don't have any pressing needs to get more clothes," Luna replied then looked at Hermione, "and I am certain our Librarian has purchased any new books I could want," which caused Hermione to blush, look down, and nod with a small smile on her face.

Luna smiled knowingly before returning her eyes to Harry, causing her to subconsciously lick her lips. "If the Twins," who were Padma and Parvati, as Fred and George were known as "The Terrible Two", " weren't involved in something for me and could be here, or our little French maid," referring to Gabrielle Delacour, who was not yet certain she wanted to join their complex relationship, "are not expected over, the stamina potions likely won't receive a proper test," to which Harry shook his head.

"Then let's go for a walk," Hermione interjected. "I want to hear the story of this," she said, indicating the ring that now adorned her finger, "and why I was not invited along for the party," Hermione said in a stoic monotone.

Luna nodded solemnly and moved to get dressed.

Ten minutes later, they were out on the grounds, walking along a familiar path.

-o-O-o-O-o-

"…and the children they'd kidnapped in Murmansk were in such a sad, sorry state that I channeled my inner Harry and rescued them all. The Twins are looking after them all and helping them cope with their ordeals," Luna explained sadly. "So I felt fully and completely justified with the chastisement I unleashed."

Hermione looked at Harry with a knowing smile. "Let me guess," Hermione said, squeezing the little blonde's hand, "not even bodies to bury."

Luna smiled and responded brightly. "Nope! Naphtha mixed with powdered granite and magnesium doesn't leave much in the way of remains. Not to mention it doesn't leave a magic residue behind." One of Luna's favourite methods of eliminating messes was fire. The Terrible Two had learned quite a bit about fires and accelerants from Luna.

"And you didn't invite us along for some chastisement of our own?" Harry asked archly.

"Yes, Miss 'You are not allowed to go off on your own in search of revenge'," Hermione said sweetly. "If anything, I was the one who should have been there!" she exclaimed in frustration, but stopped her urge to stamp her foot in indignation.

"You would have made it too quick, Mia," Luna said, using her pet name for Hermione. "I know you think of them as rabid animals and prefer to relieve them of life quickly and mercifully, but you know that is not my way," Luna explained, the worry evident in her voice. She withdrew her hands from the other two and wrung them together nervously.

With fire in her eyes, she looked up at Hermione and put her hands on Hermione's shoulders. "I had to make him pay for the pain he caused you. For the hurt he caused Harry," Luna explained desperately as her eyes searched Hermione's for acceptance and understanding.

Hermione smiled sadly and nodded, knowing Luna normally wouldn't voice how much Dolohov's curse had hurt the little blonde witch when she'd seen what it had done to Hermione's previously-unblemished torso. Hermione absently traced the path the curse had taken through her body. Luna had used an ointment whose recipe had been in her mother's journal, along with an intensely painful, for Hermione, ritual in which the cursed, scarred skin had been removed with a goblin-wrought, runed dagger and new skin the pouring of another Lovegood family potion into the furiously-bleeding wound. The potion had hissed and bubbled and, several times, Luna had to wipe black ichor from the edges of the opening. Once the malignant ooze stopped, the wound healed rapidly from the inside out.

Luna looked down, her hands slid from Hermione's shoulders down to her hands, and their finger entwined. "And for the fear he caused me," she whispered just loud enough for the others to hear.

Hermione, keeping her fingers interlocked with Luna's, gently pulled Luna closer before suddenly forcing the younger girl's arms behind her back and slammed Luna against her. Luna didn't fight to get free, but whimpered in submission. She took Luna's hands into one of hers as she watched the surprised look on Luna's face. She pulled Luna's chin up with her free hand.

"Look at me," Hermione ordered in an angry hiss, her eyes glowing like honey with an ethereal power behind them.

Harry knew all of his girls' moods and personas. Mistress Hermione had just appeared.

Luna looked up into Hermione's eyes. Hermione kissed Luna hard. Her tongue demanded entry. Luna opened her mouth and groaned as Hermione's tongue ravaged across every bit of her mouth. She sucked Luna's tongue into her own mouth and, as she broke the kiss, bit down on Luna's lower lip just hard enough to draw blood - an injury which healed almost instantly, but communicated volumes.

"You will not put yourself at risk by going alone ever again. Do you know how frightened I was for you? Do you know how worried I was? Do you have any idea how concerned our Lord was? Do you know how many nights I cried? How many tear-stained sleep shirts I had? Do you know how many nights Harry stayed awake trying to comfort me? Do you understand?" Hermione demanded.

Luna looked down and nodded.

"Answer me," Hermione said commandingly. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mistress. I understand, Mistress," Luna answered passively but, inside, her heart both stung and sang. Stung because she, herself, knew fear and knew how both Harry and Hermione and, by extension, the entirety of those beholden to their combined houses had feared when she had gone out on her own. Sang because she knew that, although she had hurt her two lovers, they remained her loves, cared about her enough to chastise her for her foolhardiness, and would allow them to move passed this error in judgment.

Hermione was not finished yet.

"Don't you trust us and our battle-won skills? Don't you trust us watching your back? There are none I trust as much as you and Harry to watch my back. There is no one outside of our extended family I trust with that duty. Am I no longer worthy of your trust?" she asked softly as she released Luna's hand and turned away, hugging herself in her despair. "_How could she not see this would hurt me so?_" Hermione wondered sadly as she began to silently cry.

Luna felt like bursting into tears. "_How could she think that?_" she sobbed in her mind, but she knew in her heart of hearts how Hermione must have felt…still felt.

Luna fell to her knees in the snow and hugged Hermione's legs from behind as her tears began to fall.

Harry kept back. He knew this was a dynamic that had to play out. Although the three of them had been together intimately for more than five years, there were still times he knew he had to stand back and not try to save or pacify situations. "_As Xeno had said, 'Relationships only grow through honest communication. Sometimes that means pain that just won't disappear like the morning fog.'"_ Harry thought, watching the two girls painfully grow and strengthen their relationship.

Hermione slowly turned and pulled Luna up to her feet before she pulled her into a hug. "I'd thought I'd lost you. That we'd lost you. That you'd lost faith in us," Hermione whispered.

"Never!" Luna cried out hoarsely and buried her nose in Hermione's bosom.

Hermione felt Luna's shoulders quaking in silent sobs. She rested her chin on the top of Luna's head and pulled Luna into an even tighter hug.

"Harry and I would turn this world into a blackened cinder before we destroyed it utterly if we lost you, Little Moon," Hermione whispered fervently. She pushed Luna away but held her at arm's length and looked her in the eye. "I would die without you, My Luna," she whispered as she flared her eyes open, lowered her Occlumency shields, and pulled Luna into her mind.

Luna's eyes opened wide in surprise and awe at what was being done to her and what she was shown. It was like floating through a museum dedicated to her every interaction with Hermione. From her first gaze across the Great Hall, to blowing the doors off Ravenclaw tower and each and every mentally-debilitating spell she had cast after Hermione had heard how her house mates had treated her, to the first time Hermione had taken Luna to her dorm, pulled her onto her bed, closed the curtains, and admitted she'd fallen in love with her, to the morning before Luna had spoken with Myrtle and left for Prague without even leaving a note.

Hermione had used long-forgotten magics to discover where Luna had gone and why. Those spells had left Hermione utterly drained for three days – so drained that Harry feared for her life.

Luna was then drawn to another section of Hermione's memories – memories Hermione had not even allowed Harry access. The plans for what she would do if Luna were ever taken from her. How she would turn her body into a focus for all the magic embodied within the ley line junctions running beneath one of the many runic circles scattered around the world. With what Luna knew of magical physics from reading ancient tomes within the Lovegood archives, not a single grain of sand would be left in existence were Hermione to do as she had planned. She was fairly certain that, if Hermione performed her ritual during high noon, that even the sun would wink out of existence.

Finally, Luna was directed to another area. The very air was diffused with a golden glow and, upon a silk-covered dais, Hermione, Harry, and she lay intertwined as they had been that morning when they woke. There were other, indeterminate people laying on or near the dais but she could not see their faces. She knew from their body shapes that all were female. The smile of contentment on Hermione's face was almost painful to see in its purity. The love represented was almost tangible. She could feel her entire being tingle with a sense of comfort, belonging, togetherness, vitality, and love.

She could feel this was Hermione's idea of "Home!"

Suddenly she felt herself wrapped again in Hermione's arms, the cold of the morning being pushed away by the love and warmth of the beautiful witch holding her.

She felt Harry approach and wrap his arms around both of them. "Let's go home," he said and, without waiting for a reply, elf-popped them back to the manor.

A few minutes later, after they all drank the hot cocoa with marshmallows Tippy provided – unbeknownst to the two girls, laced with a dreamless sleep potion for her and Hermione. Luna was fairly certain, as they slipped off to sleep, they were making Hermione's vision of home a reality.

-o-O-o-O-o-


	3. Awakenings - Avignon

-AN-

There is a section with "-x-x-x-x-x-" as separators. If you are not interested in "normal" activities between "normal" people in a bath, you can completely skip this part without losing any of the story line.

This chapter does have three brief sexual interludes that are not delineated by any safety barriers. To me, such delineations do more harm to the story than any good their inclusion would achieve.

It is actually with some trepidation I even place this author's note here.

-AN-

-o-O-o-O-o-

**Awakenings - Avignon**

-o-O-o-O-o-

Gabrielle Delacour awoke screaming and drenched in perspiration from the nightmare. She shook herself. "Juste un rêve," she whispered to herself fervently. Except this time, the nightmare had had too much detail. It was as if she had actually been in the room, hearing the cries of pain and the anguished screams.

At least this time she had not transformed.

She was thankful she had cast silencing charms on the walls, floor, and ceiling. The past five nights she had woken the entire house with her screams.

"Pompette," she called out. A house elf appeared. "Puis-je avoir de l'eau?" she asked. The elf popped away and returned a moment later with a large glass of water and ice.

Her throat, sore from the scream, chilled and was numbed as the cold water cascaded down and extinguished the fire in the pit of her stomach. "Merci," she said to the elf.

Before she could ask, the elf popped away with the empty glass and popped back again with a small potion vial and another glass of water. At Gabrielle's questioning expression, Pompette replied, "Pour aider la petite fille sommeil," she said shyly before popping away.

Gabrielle looked at her clock again. She drank the potions vial down, waited half a minute, and then took a sip of water to wash the foul taste away. She set the vial and the water glass down on the bedside table and lay back down in bed. She was asleep just as her head contacted the pillow.

Pompette quietly popped back into the room. She shook her head, sad at the thought her Little Miss would be taken away from her. She extinguished the candles, took the vial and glass, and popped out.

-o-O-o-O-o-

The morning light came streaming in through the windows. Gabrielle opened her eyes and lay there a moment. She then remembered the reality of her nightmare. In a panic, she threw off the comforter, leapt out of bed, and ran to her wardrobe. She stripped off her sleep shirt and put on a light pink cashmere sweater that left a two-inch wide patch of bare, tan, smooth skin, lace knickers, short-shorts, short white socks, and a short skirt she knew would be comfortable.

She was about to call her elf when Pompette appeared beside her with two sets of six thornless, red roses with a single thorn-less white rosebud in the centre. Pompette had also brought a single, thorn-less lavender rose.

Gabrielle knelt down and hugged Pompette and took the roses. She shrank them and placed them in her pocket to prevent them from being damaged during her trip. Pompette hugged her mistress fervently before she took her hand and popped her to the floo foyer.

Gabrielle tapped her wand on the floo powder bowl, causing the powder to momentarily change from blue to gold. She took a pinch of the now-golden floo powder and tossed it into the fire. She clearly enunciated, "маім любімым," and stepped into the white roaring flames and disappeared.

The flames died down and the floo powder returned to its normal blue colour.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Seconds later, the signal bell for the floo system rang. Orenda, the matriarch of the Potter house elves appeared in the room. Upon seeing who had arrived, she silently popped away to check on her charges.

She waved her hands over the tangled bodies in bed and determined they would awaken shortly regardless. With her decision made, she popped out silently and popped in with an audible pop to the floo foyer.

"Miss Gabrielle. It is good to have you back again. Are you just visiting?" Orenda asked as she hoped the young witch's presence would help ameliorate any issues her charges were having with one another.

"I don't know yet," Gabrielle answered uncertainly.

"Well, I will let your presence be a surprise," Orenda replied. She took Gabrielle's hand and popped the young witch into the master suite silently.

Orenda theatrically put her finger against her lips which caused Gabrielle to smile. Orenda smiled in return before she popped silently out of the room.

Gabrielle looked at Hermione, Luna, and Harry. Harry was in the middle with Hermione and Luna on either side of him using his chest as a pillow. Emotions welled up within her as she gazed upon each of their faces.

She removed the roses from her pocket and expanded them, noting none were damaged. She gently floated them over to their intended recipients – the single lavender rose on Hermione's chest and the identical bouquets to Luna and Harry.

Harry's eyes snapped open just before the roses touched them. Startled by his reaction, Gabrielle lost control of the spell and the roses dropped upon their intended recipients.

Gabrielle put her hand over her mouth in embarrassment. Harry looked down at the roses and then looked at the blonde Veela witch.

While most who knew the actual facts about Veela knew she was a full Veela, only her sister, her parents, and the three on the bed knew the complete truth. Gabrielle and Fleur were not half witch / half Veela. Since their father was a wizard and their mother was a veela, they were full Veela, having all the abilities inherent to a Veela female, and they were also blessed with a magical core and could cast noble magic using a focus such as a wand or staff.

"Good morning, Little Angel," Harry said softly, using his pillow name for her. He had not expected her to fall on the bed sobbing.

-o-O-o-O-o-

"How is she doing?" Harry asked as he continued to hold the also-concerned Luna in his arms.

Hermione, who had just walked out of their suite, looked at the both of them. "Frightened," she said. She looked towards the window, where dawn's light had just begun to illuminate the grounds. "She has been having dreams. Nightmares, really," she said then looked at Luna. "Luna, of the three of us, you know him the best. Would Bill Weasley ever do anything violent towards Fleur?" she asked seriously.

Luna looked a bit surprised at the question. "I don't know him all that well. Based on how he acted towards her at our Celebration of Union, I wouldn't think so. He was doting on her and was constantly in awe of the bulge growing out of her belly," she replied, looking off into the distance.

She then focused tightly on some dust mote only she could see. Harry felt Luna tighten her entire being and become still as steel in her embrace. "There are control potions. Molly was a Potions Mistress, though never acknowledged that fact," Luna said suddenly as she stared into Hermione's eyes.

Hermione nodded then lowered her mental shields, allowing Luna to enter her mind and watch the nightmare Gabrielle had shared with her.

Luna tensed her entire body as she relived the nightmare.

-o-O-o-O-o-

A blood-covered Fleur leaned against the wall as she sobbed and shivered in pain. Her arms, chest and face had multiple lacerations from her efforts to protect her unborn child. An uninjured, unscarred William Weasley stood over her, a handful of blonde hair visible between his fingers from him tearing it out of Fleur's scalp. His maniacal, spittle-filled rant left him wild-eyed.

"You insufferable, adulterous dribble of quim! Tell me who the real father is!" He yelled at her from less than an inch away from her terrified eyes before he backhanded her away. He stood, walked over to a table, picked up an opened bottle of fire whiskey, poured half of it over her to increase the pain from the injuries, and drained the remainder in four swallows, all the while staring amusedly at her supine form.

He drew his wand and cast an herbology-based incarcerous spell on her, which bound her nude form in obviously-painful, thorn-covered vines. He then cast a silencing spell on her.

"I'll deal with you in the morning," he said before leaving the room.

-o-O-o-O-o-

When Luna finished reliving the dream, she collapsed upon herself and cried. Harry held her tightly and looked at Hermione, whose Occlumency shields were still relaxed. He, too, viewed the dream.

When the dream stopped replaying for him, his gaze continued to bore into Hermione's eyes for several minutes as Luna's crying subsided and she looked up at him.

"I have to go," he said suddenly. He tried to disentangle himself from Luna but she held fast.

"No! Harry, you cannot go by yourself after chastising me for going after Dolohov alone," Luna said desperately. "But we do need to go. That was no dream. Somehow she is dream walking," Luna explained with an undertone of terror.

He looked down at Luna, who stared back at him intensely. Hermione watched her two loves' silent battle of wills before Harry averted his gaze.

"Fine. All three of us are going. But we're going now," he stated emphatically then snapped his fingers.

Orenda, Tippy, Clover, and Bitty, the four house elves for the manor, popped in instantly. "How may we help, Master Harry?" Orenda, as the most senior elf, asked.

Harry looked at them then focused on Orenda.

"My friends, the three of us will be gone for a short time. Four days at the most. Please look after Gabrielle, but under no circumstances is she allowed to leave before we state she is permitted to do so, or you sense our end. Let her sleep for now and tend to her needs," Harry explained grimly.

The elves gasped at his orders. "We will do as Master Harry asks," Orenda replied. The other three elves nodded in agreement but all pulled on their ears in anxiety.

Harry stood and helped Luna to stand. He held his other hand out to Hermione and beckoned her over. With a young witch on either arm, Harry firmly fixed the destination in his mind and the three popped out silently.

"Is this their end?" Tippy asked sadly with an unusually large elf tear running down her face.

Orenda closed her eyes a moment then opened them and looked brightly at the other elves. "Not their end. Not for another elf life at least."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The trio silently elf-popped just inside the cottage and immediately separated as they drew their wands.

Hermione quietly but quickly entered the bedroom. Laying on the bed, along with two empty bottles of fire whiskey, was a passed-out wizard about the size of Bill Weasley before he had been permanently maimed at Bill and Fleur's wedding. She cast a lumos spell and looked at his hand. The knuckles of both hands were bruised. To ensure her own safety, she cast an over-powered Stupefy on him before shouting, "Clear! I found him! Look for her!"

Harry and Luna had been performing a room-to-room search and heard Hermione's yell just as Luna found Fleur.

While it was normal for Veela to heal quickly, Fleur's combined Veela and noble magics had clearly been depleted as her body was still covered in bruises and open wounds.

Luna dispelled the vines and the silencing spell. Fleur immediately drew into a tight foetal position.

"Here! Found her! She's in bad shape!" Luna shouted. Less than a minute later, Hermione came running into the room and saw Fleur's condition.

Since both of her eyes were swollen shut, Fleur could not see who had released her from the spells. Fearing the worst, she knew it could be no one but her husband.

"I sw…swear…B…Bill! The…the b…baby…ii…is…ya…ya…yours," she cried, hoping he had come to his senses, but somehow knowing it would do no good.

Hermione knelt down and placed a hand gently on Fleur's shoulder. Fleur flinched away before sobbing, "P…p…pl…please don't…" and pulled herself into a tighter ball.

"Fleur," Hermione said softly, "it's Hermione and Luna. We are **not** going to hurt you."

Luna, too, placed a comforting hand on Fleur. "It is true, Fleur," she said earnestly.

Instead of relaxing from the ball she was in, Fleur's sobs renewed.

Luna ran her wand over Fleur as she cast a diagnostic spell once. Twice. A third time. She looked up at Hermione as Harry entered the room and shook her head.

"We need to get her to Saint Barthélemy or she will lose the baby," Luna said quietly, referring to the hospital located within the Veela Enclave of Gallia.

"Can you safely cast a stasis charm on her?" Hermione asked then bit her lip in concern.

Luna answered as she cast the spell on Fleur. "That should hold her until they can get a prenatal specialist."

"I found him. I presume you stupefied him?" Harry asked Hermione.

She nodded, still looking at the injured woman.

"Does he need to survive?" Harry asked tightly. He absolutely despised people who abused others in any fashion. Fleur, however, had been one of the few people he'd known as a boy who had treated him in a similar fashion as Hermione and Luna. He had always had romantic feelings for her, and finding her in this condition caused most of his sanity to flee as a building wave of rage crashed over his mind, nearly washing away all reason.

Hermione nodded grimly. "For now," she said and looked at Harry as she felt his rage threaten to take her reason as well.

Harry nodded in acquiescence then looked sideways at Luna. "Can you put him in stasis as well. We will gather up the bottles, just in case something untoward is going on."

Luna nodded and left the room. Harry looked at Hermione again and motioned with his head for her to follow Luna. Hermione nodded and left as well, knowing Luna could get carried away with things and frequently chose to take instructions or ignore them, as suited her.

He knelt down beside Fleur and catalogued her injuries he could see. "_Regardless of anything else that happens, no matter the guilty, they shall pay. This I swear on all that I have and all that I am,"_ he whispered. He knew she could not hear him, but he knew his magic and his conscience could.

Two minutes later, Luna and Hermione returned with the levitated wizard and a shrunken box of items. Hermione put Bill down next to Fleur on the floor. Luna took Fleur's hand while Hermione rested her shoe on Bill's stomach. Harry smirked at Hermione as he took her arm, then took Luna's arm and popped them away.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Gabrielle awoke. She realised she was in a strange bed and bolted upright. After a few moments, as she looked around, she relaxed as she recognised her surroundings and the décor of the master suite at the trio's manor in Pyrford.

She then realised the reason she had awoken was not because of another nightmare and began to toss the covers off.

Before she could move from the bed, a house elf popped in and snapped its fingers at her. Her entire body glowed pink for a moment and her immediate personal needs were quite suddenly no longer pressing at all.

"Does Mistress Hermione's Gabrielle be remembering Tippy? Miss Orenda is busy and cannot be here herself. Is Mistress Hermione's Gabrielle hungry?" Tippy asked.

Gabrielle blushed pinkly at Tippy's form of address for her. Her stomach, however, announced to the young Veela that her body was in desperate need of nourishment. "I remember you, Tippy. Where is Hermione?" Gabrielle asked in perfect English.

The little elf pulled at her ears nervously. "Mistress Hermione, Mistress Luna, and Master Harry have gone to check on…on something," Tippy said with a moment's hesitation. She then looked at Gabrielle intensely. "You is not to leave before Mistress Hermione returns. Master Harry orders this," Tippy said adamantly.

Gabrielle sighed. She was well aware of the over-protective nature of all three members of the Potter-Granger-Lovegood trio, though Harry was the most protective. While Luna was a bit rabid, Hermione made Luna look like a timid bunny in comparison. She knew Harry, however, would destroy heaven and earth to keep those he loved safe.

"My usual breakfast then, please, Tippy," Gabrielle answered.

Tippy nodded and popped away.

Gabrielle lay back down again and stared at the ceiling, letting her mind wander where it would. Somehow she could not get the image of an avenging brunette angel rescuing her sister out of her head.

Ten minutes later, Tippy popped in with a heavily-laden tray containing all of Gabrielle's favourite foods. Gabrielle sat up, scooted back, and sat back against her pillow on the headboard. Tippy floated the tray over and snapped her fingers, causing a floating bed table to appear just over Gabrielle's legs. She lowered the tray down onto the table.

"If Mistress Hermione's Gabrielle needs anything, just call for Tippy and Tippy will come," the elf said before she popped out.

"Il ya suffisamment de nourriture pour une armée," Gabrielle said to herself and laughed. She picked up the mug of steaming hot cocoa and sipped it. It was, as it always was, perfect. Not too sweet. Not too bitter. It was just the right temperature.

Gabrielle was almost done eating when she heard Hermione call from the corridor, "Angel, may I come in?"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"What do you mean, I've been asleep more than a day?" Gabrielle asked in shock.

"You were exhausted, Little One," Hermione soothingly explained. "We specifically told the elves to not waken you. You were exhausted, magically drained, and we were so worried about you. Dreamless sleep put you out for longer than I expected, but aren't you feeling more rested now?" Hermione asked sincerely as she ran her fingers through Gabrielle's long, blonde hair.

"You are certain Fleur will be well and the baby is unharmed?" Gabrielle asked for the third time. Even though Hermione had explained that Gabrielle's nightmare had led them to find Fleur and were able to take her safely to the hospital at the Veela Enclave and that Fleur would be healed and the baby had not been injured. They had held back much of the horrific detail surrounding the events of the past seven days.

-o-O-o-O-o-

They had discovered the person who appeared to be Bill was not, in fact, Bill Weasley. Posing as Bill was a pureblood bigot who had been in full support of the ideals of Riddle but had been too scared to become a death eater. He had learned through some less-than-happy attendees at their wedding that Bill "...had soiled himself by marrying a Veela creature..." and that Bill had been seriously and permanently damaged. The speculation of said attendees was that his injuries were his punishment for soiling the blood of his family.

He had attacked Bill towards dusk, then killed him. He had then taken a modified polyjuice potion to look like an undamaged Bill and transfigured Bill's body into a stone which he had placed in Fleur's bedside table with "WEASEL" scratched into its surface.

From their interrogation of the impostor, he had systematically beaten and raped Fleur every waking hour for his own sick pleasures. He had placed magic-inhibiting/absorbing manacles on her wrists and ankles which had explained her depleted magic levels.

He had also purchased a Veela thrall reversal ring from Borgin & Burkes, allowing him to force Fleur to release her thrall and cause it to wash over her, making her utterly pliable and mewling for him to take her in every way possible.

Luna and Harry had promised Hermione they would ensure he understood the error of his ways before he departed this plane.

-o-O-o-O-o-

"You'll take care of everything?" Gabrielle asked, the tone of her voice pleading.

Hermione cupped the young Veela's cheek and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Of course we will, Angel. You know we keep our promises."

Gabrielle nodded and smiled shyly.

"Now, what was the reason you **thought** you came to see us for?" Hermione asked primly, though she was certain she knew the reason, her gaze taking in the roses Gabrielle had brought which now stood in three separate vases near the window.

"I was coming over to woo you and accept me!" She said angrily. "The nightmare was supposed to be just that: a nightmare; my fears playing with my mind. It wasn't supposed to be real!" she cried.

Hermione drew Gabrielle's head down. The younger girl took two handfuls of Hermione's sweater, "I was so scared. I thought it was my fear of rejection causing the dreams. I had no idea they were real," Gabrielle sobbed out.

Hermione held her and let her cry. "_Goodness knows I have cried on Harry's and Luna's shoulders often enough_," she thought as Gabrielle let the tears help wash away her pain. "Everything will be all right again, My Little Angel," Hermione whispered into her hair before kissing her on the top of her head.

Gabrielle pushed back and looked into Hermione's eyes. "You have to believe me! I didn't know it was true. That it was real. If I had known, I would have run to Papa or come here and begged you for help! Please believe me!" Gabrielle pleaded.

Hermione pulled her back in and held her tightly. "I do believe you! Luna and Harry believe it, too!" she said in an attempt to comfort the distraught girl.

Gabrielle wrapped her arms around Hermione fiercely, knowing Hermione had never, and would never, lie to her.

Hermione pulled Gabrielle up off the sofa and into the master bedroom and led her to the bed. Hermione gently directed her to sit on the bed. Once she had sat, Hermione proceeded to undress her.

As the older witch was sliding her short shorts down her thighs, Gabrielle realised what Hermione was doing and grabbed her hands. "Non!" she cried out in embarrassment. "I mean, what are you doing?" Gabrielle asked, her hands still preventing Hermione from undressing her further.

Hermione looked up and met her eyes. "Gabrielle, I am not going to hurt you or take liberties with you. I was undressing you because I know you, like I, prefer to sleep in the nude," Hermione explained while thinking, "_Not that I wouldn't want to taste every square inch of you, My Little French Maid_."

Gabrielle closed her eyes and nodded shyly; releasing the death grip she had on Hermione's hands and held them more gently as she helped Hermione to remove her shorts and then her knickers. Once this was done, Hermione unlaced Gabrielle's trainers and removed them along with her socks. Hermione hoped Gabrielle had not noticed her own desire forming as the scent of Gabrielle's ripe, hairless womanhood called to her from mere inches away.

Gabrielle tried unbuttoning her blouse, but her hands were shaking too badly to succeed. Hermione stood and pulled Gabrielle's hands away as she gently unbuttoned the blouse and slid it from her shoulders. With a deft flick of her fingers, Gabrielle's short skirt disappeared from her body and reappeared, neatly folded, on the dressing stand.

"Now scoot up into the left side of the bed, Angel," Hermione instructed.

Gabrielle did as she was told and lay her head down on the pillow.

She watched, mesmerised, as Hermione twirled her hair up and put her wand through the spontaneous bun that formed atop her head. She couldn't take her eyes off the beautiful, tanned witch

Hermione, without thought, stripped to her skin in less than a minute. She wanted Gabrielle to be comfortable and not feeling like she was being seduced. Even still, she watched as her angel's eyes never left the intense visual inspection of her body.

Hermione effortlessly slid across the bed and lay next to Gabrielle before pulling her into a gentle embrace. Gabrielle scooted down a bit further so she could use Hermione's tummy as a pillow.

Hermione smirked but said nothing. She removed the wand from her hair and slid it beneath the pillow. She lifted her head and looked down at the top of Gabrielle's head. She was surprised that Gabrielle was absently running her hands slowly up and down Hermione's side and tummy in a small circle.

She put one arm on Gabrielle's shoulders and gently, but firmly, massaged Gabrielle's head.

Gabrielle thought that, with the exception of the discovery that her nightmares and the horrors inflicted upon her sister in them were real, she was in heaven. She closed her eyes and, as she fell asleep, reveled in the relaxing, affectionate scalp massage and the warmth she felt from the beautiful woman she was using as a pillow.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Bartholomew Borgin awoke to something wet hitting his forehead. He wiped his forehead in his still-tired state and decided to go back to sleep when another drop hit his head. "Bloody roof has another leak," he mumbled and tried to get back to sleep when another drop hit his head. He licked at the small droplets that bounced around his mouth, grumbling about roofs not being what they used to.

He sat upright suddenly, realising the taste of the drip was blood, and opened his eyes wide, looked up, and cried out at what he saw.

Hanging above him was a man's cooling corpse. It was hung upside down with his legs and arms spread and stretched painfully wide. What he could see of the corpse's face in the dim light from the ever-burning candle was frightening.

Borgin stood and held the candle up to more clearly see the man's face. He recognised the corpse as one of his frequent customers, Terrence Smith. Whomever Smith had upset had clearly extracted information from him. The corpse's eyelids, along with several teeth, were missing. It's eyes hung from their sockets by their optic nerves and the nose was crushed. The jaw was dislocated and clearly broken into several pieces.

As he walked around the back of the corpse, he stopped and felt a paralysing chill run up his spine. The corpse's back had been cut open, the ribs cut from the spine and pulled out in some sick caricature of a bird's wings.

He walked around the dangling corpse and performed a cursory inspection of all the injuries he could readily see. "Well, Terry, whomever you upset certainly had a knack for torture and a desire to keep you alive while they did it," Borgin said to himself.

Once he had inspected the body from front and back, he looked up and, for the first time since he had awoken, noticed he was not in his own bed chamber but actually in his shop. He checked to find that not only was his wand missing, but so was the holster it normally rode in. Also missing was his spare wand, the disillusioned knife he kept at the small of his back, and the disillusioned dagger he kept strapped to his left ankle.

"Quite a piece of work, don't you think?" he heard someone to his left, near the front of the store, say conversationally.

"Who's there?!" Borgin shouted, holding the candle up in that direction.

A feminine voice, reminding him all too well of Bellatrix Lestrange called out, this time from behind him in the direction of the back room. "I thought the blood eagling gave him too quick a release."

"Who's there?!" he screamed and turned, now utterly terrified.

"I will have you know I didn't intend for him to cross over so quickly," the male voice said, sounding as if whomever was speaking was directly behind him.

He spun quickly, trying to lash out at whomever it was, but his arm hit nothing but air.

"Thanks to the family magics, his tortured soul will wander as a ghost until the end of days," the sing-song girl's voice said from directly above him.

Borgin whimpered and soiled himself as the male voice spoke again. "Well, it looks like you may have gotten through to him, My Dear, judging by the smell. Tell me, Burgin, what we want to know and, depending upon your answers, this will all be but a rather unpleasant dream."

"Anything! Please! I'll tell you anything!" Borgin screamed out in terror.

"You see, Love. I told you he would be reasonable," the man's voice said.

"If he doesn't freely give you the full answers, he and I may still dance," the sing-song girl voice said. Other than Lestrange, he only knew of one other woman who spoke that way.

"Pandora Lovegood? It cannot be you! I watched you die!" Borgin screamed. "I watched as Karkaroff cast the spells!"

There was a profound silence. He could only hear his own breathing. Scant inches from him stood one of the columns supporting the floor above. He moved to lean against it but found the only thing he could move were his eyes. A white circle of light surrounded him, causing the rest of the shop to plunge into deepest darkness. His vision, for a moment, was filled with the cooling, mutilated corpse of his former customer.

A young witch stepped out of the darkness and approached him. He quickly look in her features and noticed her wand was tucked behind her ear, her hair was nearly invisible, tucked under some kind of odd hat that looked like an inverted bowl with a broad brim off the back and a horseshoe-shaped hole in the front with an adjustment strap at the bottom of the horseshoe. The wisps of hair that escaped through the hole were an iridescent blonde. She was wearing heavy blue trousers with bright brass rivets at the ends of every seam. He had to squint to read the red lettering on the light, nearly transparent white shirt she was wearing: "Property of Hermione Granger. If found, call for Tippy. If taken, pray for a merely-agonising death".

He looked into her grey eyes – the same grey eyes Pandora had looked at him with in disdain when he had been a seventh year and she had been a second year at Hogwarts. These eyes, just like Pandora's, were hardened agates filled with anger and hate. This girl's eyes, unlike Pandora's, had no pity or rationality behind them. These eyes were filled with malice and madness.

He felt his head freed from the petrifaction. "You're not Pandora Lovegood," he whispered.

She reached up and removed her hat. Long, flowing blonde hair softly fell, covering her back down to the back of her calves. She fluffed it a bit before she turned back to face him. A wand appeared in her right hand and a small knife appeared in her left hand.

"Have you ever danced with a snorkack on a moonless night?" the diminutive witch asked.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Harry was carrying a still-sobbing Luna from the apparition point then elf-popped them to the edge of the bath in their suite. He had cast a scourgify spell on both of them before they had left Knockturn Alley, but he needed to get the mental weight of blood from his skin and knew Luna needed the time to bring her emotions back into some semblance of normal. Him insisting Hermione return to the manor to tend to Gabrielle was the only thing he had done that had prevented Knockturn Alley from becoming a raging inferno of death and destruction.

As it was, there were four smoking craters in Knockturn Alley and he owed The Twins and The Terrible Two some huge favours for helping him with the illicit brothel that had been renting muggle and muggleborn children out to various witches and wizards. Thirty-seven girls and twelve boys, with and without magic, had been rescued.

Judging by the rooms filled with piles of drying bones and illicit potion ingredients in the basement, hundreds of children had not been as fortunate. It was for this reason that Luna was currently inconsolable.

Karkaroff would have to wait.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry manually stripped Luna from her clothing as he soothingly ran his hands over her body. He removed his own clothing using magic, literally popping right out of them. He picked Luna up in a bridal carry and walked straight into the bath. She had her arms around his neck and continued to sob. He held her and cooed words of comfort and love to her until her sobs abated and, from her breathing, could tell she had fallen into a fitful sleep.

He released her gradually from his hold on her, allowing the magics within the bath to hold her face above the level of the water. Starting with her feet, he washed her, pulling the tension from her body as he went. That it released his tension at the same time never ceased to amaze him. In that moment, he realised the only times he ever allowed himself to relax was when the three of them were together in either bed, the bath, or sharing one of the meals they had prepared together.

He spent nearly five minutes washing each foot, ensuring the arch, heel, and each toe and space between were thoroughly appreciated with a firm touch and a complete washing.

He then worked on her calves and thighs. By the time he arrived at her centre he was, as he always was at this point in the bath, aroused by the sight and feel of her body. He wondered how it was both of these women were so equivalent in his mind for, whether it was Hermione or Luna, his heart was equally and happily bound to both in equal shares.

Instead of surrendering to his desire, he began washing Luna's delicate, tiny hands. While they were well-proportioned to her stature, it was during times in the bath that he allowed his amazement at her size rise up into consciousness. After much work with healers and trusted potions masters, most of the damage inflicted on his body by years of malnourishment and physical abuse, had been reversed and he now stood at his adult height of six feet, two inches. Hermione, while not tall, stood at five feet, six inches. This was the perfect height for her to be held in his arms and rest her head on his shoulder.

Luna, however, was only five feet, two inches. It had been Padma Patil who had explained that Luna, his diminutive witch, was not short but was, in fact, concentrated. Luna would grasp every moment of life and squeeze all the meaning and happiness out of them and return them to the ether just as full of life and goodness. When those times were dark, she would rip every ounce of the dark from them and pour that darkness back into whomever's soul had caused it.

When he finished with her hands and arms, he carefully and gently washed her face, lightly percussed her forehead and cheekbones to help reduce tension of the scalp and gently ran his fingers along the brow ridge inside the optical orbits to relax the muscles along the brow ridge and either side of the nose. He knew when she awoke due to the soft moans of pleasure and relief she emitted.

He kissed her briefly before he stood near the crown of her head and washed her scalp and hair several times; twice for the purpose of cleanliness and twice more for the almost pathological need to be physically clean after one of her missions.

Once he had nothing left to wash but her torso, he was twitchy from his arousal. He moved until he was standing between washed her shoulders and back. He washed her small, pert breasts lovingly but firmly, taking care of all the internal tensions and itches, and relished in her small gasps as he gently pinched each firm, erect nipple. He then washed the front of her torso from below her breasts to just below her navel.

He washed her buttocks and the cleft between lovingly and gently. He then ran his hands along her thighs, following her cleft with his thumbs as pulled her smooth, hairless womanhood open and washed it with a sensitising soap Parvati had formulated just for the purpose of helping a woman become aroused. Her eyes fluttered open in surprise as he knelt in the water and he began kissing her pelvis and inner thighs in an ever tightening circle, all the while his thumb probed her soft velvet opening.

With his eyes closed, he couldn't see her face, but knew he had reached, what he referred to in his mind as, her magic button. Her back arched and she screeched in her release, the magic of the bath preventing her face from going below the water. While normally Harry would stop after giving her release, he felt her need strongly and continued to kiss and lick her while rhythmically thrusting into her alternately with his thumb and tongue. At the same time, he ran his middle finger back and forth across her puckered hole.

He could feel her sexual tension build again and pushed his middle finger and thumb deeply within both of her openings as he increased the tempo of his tongue across her clitoris.

He felt a massive pulse of magic wash over him as Luna screamed in release, his thumb and finger trapped within her as her body spasmed around them, driving her over the edge again and again and each time a smaller and smaller pulse of magic left her body.

When her body finally unclenched, he withdrew his hand and stood, noting she had fallen into a light doze again. He washed her nether regions quickly but clinically. Though he was massively aroused, he would not take her unless she was awake and aware to enjoy it as well; a state she was not currently in.

He picked her up out of the bath and, using his wandless magic again, dried them both off and popped them to the foot of their bed. It was with a broad smile that he noted Gabrielle and Hermione were cuddled against one another. He gently lay Luna against Gabrielle and watched with amusement as the French girl rolled over in her sleep and straddled Luna's leg. He lay down next to Hermione and gently pulled her over onto him. Without awakening, she kissed him and nuzzled into his chest.

He was asleep within minutes.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Gabrielle awoke in the dark. She had been having an amazingly good dream and it manifested itself physically in the best way possible. She felt a little trickle of her honey warmly glisten between her legs, her fingers, and the body pillow she lay upon. "_Je ne ai pas d'aller dormir avec Hermione?_" she thought before her eyes slammed open in embarrassment and surprise.

Instead of the gardenia scent of Hermione's hair cleaning potion, Gabrielle's senses were filled with the aroma of heather, lilac, and lavender. This helped to explain the kiss on her nose.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Gabrielle heard Luna ask quietly.

"Oui…um…yes…er…" Gabrielle stammered in embarrassment.

Luna slid her arms from Gabrielle's back, over her bum, and rested them at the tops of her thighs. "Would you like to sleep, would you like to play some more, or would you like to tell me about your latest dream?" Luna asked with playful amusement in her voice. She could feel the heat from Gabrielle's face.

"Sleep, I think," Gabrielle said, unsure the reason she was so deeply embarrassed.

As if reading her mind and answering her silent question, Luna whispered in her ear, "Yes, I know we have all seen one another skyclad and played with one another casually before. You are afraid and embarrassed because you have come to a decision you believe will take away your freedom or further choices."

Gabrielle shook her head for a moment before she closed her eyes and nodded. This exactly stated her feelings. Gabrielle could feel Luna's smile in the dark.

"Believe me when I tell you, you will still have choices and you will actually have greater freedom. The only change will be your responsibility for how you use your freedom and the results of your choices and the effects of those choices on the lives and feelings of others," Luna explained.

Suddenly, Gabrielle found herself pinned to the bed by the lithe, blonde witch. Luna had her hands pinned above her head on the pillow with her body lying between Gabrielle's legs.

Gabrielle didn't know if she was trembling in fear or anticipation.

"For example," Luna whispered hotly, punctuating each word with a kiss on her neck and shoulders, "I could take advantage of you right now. I could put a silencing spell on you, pin you down to the bed with magic, and ravish you until you were my mewling little pleasure slave."

Gabrielle moaned as the searing heat of each kiss branded her very soul and raw desire created an itch between her legs she wanted Luna to scratch with her wonderful linguistic and digital skills.

Luna rolled off gently, pulled Gabrielle close beside her, and directed Gabrielle's head down to cushion below her breasts. "That would be a poor decision on my part, though," Luna explained. "While I am sure you would enjoy it at some level, it isn't what you want. Not really. No matter how much your body is telling your mind that that is what you need. It would hurt you at some level. Because of that, it would hurt Hermione's and Harry's feelings."

Luna could feel Gabrielle nod against her tummy. "So, my choice would lead to a momentary pleasure for me and for you, but would eventually destroy the very fabric of my life. A life I didn't have before I pledged myself to our Hermione."

Gabrielle pushed up quickly in shock and looked into Luna's eyes, now illuminated by some inner fire.

"She doesn't know I pledged myself to her, Gabrielle. At least, I don't think she does. I have never told either her or Harry," Luna explained and kissed Gabrielle's nose again. "Please don't tell her," Luna suddenly pleaded softly as she pulled Gabrielle back down.

Although Luna fell asleep quickly, Gabrielle remained awake, questioning the reasons Luna had trusted her with the knowledge of her pledging herself to Hermione. She didn't know what had made Luna become so vulnerable or open in that moment, but she would not tell secrets that were not hers. Although she fell asleep, she had fitful dreams of the grey-eyed witch and her brunette crush pleasuring her until the tremulous fingers of sunlight touched the horizon.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Hermione had remained awake as she listened to her little witch and her Veela angel as they completed their quietly whispered pillow talk. "_She pledged herself to me? What does that mean, exactly?_" she wondered in surprise. "_It sounds serious. Life-changing._"

She slowly turned her head to look at her Lord. To her surprise, he was looking at her. A small smile crept onto his face as she felt his hand slide up between her thighs. She shuddered at the intimacy and gentleness of his touch.

He drew his fingers away and seductively licked them clean. Watching his tongue languish over his honey-covered fingers caused her to quiver as a mild orgasm washed over her. It amazed her how well he could communicate with just a look or a gesture. At his request, she nodded and he popped them out of bed and into the attached dressing room.

She was standing upright, dressed in her "work clothes"; essentially a battle suit made from Ironbelly dragon hide, acromantula silk, and a head scale from the basilisk covering both the front and back of her torso. It fit her like a second skin. She noted Harry was dressed the same.

"Luna's Yule gift. Perhaps Gabrielle's and Fleur's as well," Harry explained.

Hermione was both excited and frustrated.

Excited to be able to get her little witch, who seemed to have everything she wanted, a gift that would be meaningful and unique, based on Harry's history and finding items Luna absolutely adored.

Frustrated because she was incredibly aroused by Harry's playfulness and wanted more than the tiny quaking of pleasure she had experienced a few minutes prior.

Harry walked up to her, grabbed her bum with both hands, and pulled her close. She wrapped her legs around his waist and moved to kiss him, but to her surprises he kissed her nose and popped them out.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Wandering through the manor house after Harry broke through the wards was somewhat surreal. Hermione knew they weren't in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, or France. It was too cold, the decorations, instead of having a European or Germanic flavour, had a decidedly Slavic theme.

"Where are we?" she whispered, pulling on Harry's hand to get him to stop walking.

"Romanian-Bulgarian border. Halfway between Ruse and Oltenita. The ancestral home of the House of Negrescu. An unusually appropriate name in my opinion," he whispered. His eyes never stopped moving.

She was about to ask what they were looking for when he turned to her and looked her piercingly. "We need to be exceptionally quiet. There might still be dangers here," he said as he firmly gripped her hand and continued pulling her forward. "Do not approach the walls. We need to stay in the middle of the corridor. Corrosive flesh magic on the walls," he explained. He was slightly amused and paused when Hermione pulled herself closer.

At the end of the darkened corridor, Hermione saw movement. A shambling grey horror stepped into the corridor and began walking towards them. Hermione was so wound up, as tightly as a clock spring, that she cast silently before even realising what she had done. The undead creature simply melted into the floor, leaving behind a pool of ichor which burned with an intense and pure white fire.

Harry stopped, stood upright, and turned to look at her.

She looked at him in embarrassment. "Sorry. It startled me," she whispered as she shrugged her shoulders. He crouched down and pulled her close again.

They skirted around the cooling liquid remains, turned at the end of the corridor, and stood in front of an iron-reinforced wooden door.

Harry closed his eyes and waved his hands over the door for over a minute. He nodded, opened his eyes and softly said, "In here."

"Wait. Why does Negrescu sound so familiar?" Hermione asked as she tried to find that infinitesimal scrap of information in her well-organised mind.

"Amusing pun, if you knew," Harry explained. "Before they descended into the very worst types of evil magics, they were the family who first discovered the possibility and the process of becoming an animagus less than a century after they discovered how to cross-breed and domesticate magical fauna."

Hermione became very excited. "And they were rumoured to have developed the ability to turn an animagus into an animorphmagus!" Hermione whispered excitedly.

Harry nodded his head with a wry smile. "Correct, Beloved. Now, let's be silent," he said as he tried not to laugh. This was their agreed-upon code for her to transform into her animagus form.

Since she had watched her favourite professor transform into a house cat, Hermione had hoped she was an animagus and that her form would be that of a cat of some type. Ever since she had professed her affection for Luna, she had thought how wonderful it would be to have her tummy rubbed by the diminutive blonde. She hadn't anticipated that only a part of her dream would come true.

While she was a cat animagus, she had not understood the look of utter bliss on Luna's face the first time she transformed.

She really hadn't understood why she'd still had to look down to see Luna's happy expression or the reasons she had felt so powerfully and viscerally protective of Luna since she had begun her journey to becoming an animagus.

Asking Harry to help had probably been the catalyst that fueled the nature of her animal form. It was not normal for the animal form of an animagus to be magical. There were, in fact, only three other documented instances of that happening: Myrddin Emrys, Morgana le Fay and Albus Dumbledore.

Because of this, Hermione was certain Harry's form would be a magical animal. Hermione's form was quite distinct, and Luna had fallen in love with her all over again.

That Harry had also assisted Luna with her transformation work, it was a given her form would also be magical. Most people thought she was a cute and cuddly white cottontail rabbit. That is, cute and cuddly until she became seriously, ragefully angry. In that event, it was guaranteed blood would paint the room red. "_Who would have thought that there really was a magical breed of rabbits after which the Lagomorph of Caerbannog had been based_," Hermione thought. "_At least she cleans up after herself_."

That the trio had been, at the same time, hunting horcruxes and death eaters and working on their animagus forms had probably had a significant impact on Hermione's desires to protect. Since a house cat could hardly be considered at the top of the food chain and, with the help of Harry, the combination of a power-enhancing ritual and the animagus exercises had altered her final form.

She broke out of her reverie as she realised Harry was waiting on her. It never failed to amuse him when she turned from a one-hundred twenty-four pound girl into two tons of magically-resistant, black-furred, sinew, muscle, claws, teeth, and poison. Even for female, alpha Nundu, her form was considered large.

She transformed, walked passed Harry and casually shouldered the magically and mechanically locked door aside as if it was nothing more than damp parchment. Her eyes immediately adjusted to the lightless conditions in the room.

In addition to being able to see using the barest source of light in this form, Hermione could also visualise magic. Harry rested his hand on her shoulder to keep his bearings. She stopped at a square section of the wall that was putting off so much magic it was literally leaking into the room.

She clawed gently at the wall, causing a two-foot square section of the wall to fall away. Harry could feel the somewhat ragged opening in the fall and reached in. His hand hit a solid metal handle and he pulled with all of his strength.

After nearly a minute of having no luck getting the handle to move, he braced his foot against the wall and wandlessly cast, "Fortitudine Titanic" before casting "Pondus Titanic". Neither spell was useful to the average witch or wizard due to the power required. For Harry, they were not a challenge at all.

He carefully pulled and the magically-imbued iron box popped out of the wall like a champagne cork. Hermione quickly jumped back as the act of pulling the box from the wall pulled a much larger section of the wall down with it.

Harry smirked at her. "Sometimes I don't know my own strength," he stated in an overly-serious tone before he could no longer hold his laughter, though he did make the effort to keep his expression of humour as quiet as possible.

Hermione switched back to her base form, hrumphed at him, and walked out of the room.

Harry casually carried the iron box out into the corridor and set it down, cracking the tile beneath it. A simple "alohomora" saw the box's locks click open. He looked in, nodded, and closed it again with a smile before casting every locking charm on it he knew.

"What is in the box?" Hermione asked, desperate to have her curiosity satisfied.

"Luna's gift," was all Harry would say, no matter how many times she asked. One of the annoying aspects of it was that because the iron was imbued, a featherlight charm could not be cast on it.

"How did you know about this place?" she asked, almost afraid of the possible answer.

"It was mentioned in a list of properties now owned by House Black. Apparently even the Black family thought the House of Negrescu was too dark to survive," Harry explained, "and there were three tomes related to the inventory and the secrets hidden within the house."

He loved the lip-biting, thoughtful look she gave whenever he demonstrated his love of the written word to her.

He decided to give her a bit of a bad time.

"The Black family never did find their library, supposedly the largest private library in all the magical world," he said as he watched her eyes.

While normally a rich chocolate brown, her eyes suddenly became a deep black as her entire being seemed to focus on Harry.

"Library?" she growled in predatory anticipation.

Harry clamped down on his smile. "Yes. A **LARGE** library," he emphasized, "and it is all yours, Hermione. Or it will be, once we find it. I thought it would be a perfect Yule gift for you," he explained.

After five hours of searching, thirty blasting curses, some nundu muscle, and, finally, a white hot blast of dragon fire, the library door was discovered.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Once the library had been decursed, volume by volume and, in two cases, page by page, the books had been placed in the bottomless bag Harry had conveniently brought with him.

"What about Gabrielle's gift?" Hermione asked after she placed the last book into the bag.

"Well," Harry said, looking mischievously at Hermione, "don't you think Our Little Angel would love to have a matching animagus form to the love of her life?" he asked with a smile.

"But she's veela, Harry, and all that entails. She cannot have an animagus form," Hermione reminded him.

"Love, we're in the home of the discoverers of the animagus transformation. Don't, for a moment, think I misspoke. One of the items in the iron vault we found will allow her to be an animagus of a sort. It is an amulet that will allow her to have the form of the person who provides a blood sacrifice. We can draw off a pint of your blood, give you a blood replenishing potion and, while the potion is helping your body renew blood volume, the amulet sits in a bowl and absorbs the blood," he explained.

"Really?!" she gushed as she tried to keep her excitement under control.

Harry pulled her into a calming hug. "Yes, Beloved. Really."

"Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry pulled back and looked down into her eyes.

"Yes, Love?"

"What did Luna mean when she said she pledged herself to me?" she asked.

"You'll have to ask her that, Love. I have a feeling she would want to tell you herself. Just make certain you let her know how you discovered she's done so. I don't think she would be at all happy with me if she thought I told you and it wouldn't be nice to let her thing Gabrielle had told you," Harry explained.

He looked away for a moment before looking back at her intensely. "Make certain the two of you are alone when you tell her. I have the distinct feeling it would embarrass her if anyone else were present."

Hermione nodded and hugged him even harder. "Why are you so good to me? To Luna and I?"

Harry just smiled at her in response and kissed the top of her head.

Without releasing his hold on her, he snapped his fingers and the two of them disappeared from the now-emptied library. Ten minutes later, the manor burned in a white-hot conflagration, destroying the manor house, the mausoleum, and the land for half a mile in every direction to a depth of twenty feet, destroying the decrepit remains and over a thousand inferi which Grindelwald had placed in stasis; this was Harry's attempt to fulfill his promise to Sirius to bring the House of Black and all of her forsworn Houses back from the depths of evil.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

After a long, intense shower and a still-more intense intimate entanglement followed by a second shower, Harry and Hermione left the bath to find Luna and Gabrielle sitting in bed reading. That Gabrielle was ensconced in Luna's lap fazed no one.

At the sound of the door opening, Luna briefly looked up at her two glistening-skinned lovers though her hands never stopped lovingly running over Gabrielle's arms, neck, and head. The smile she directed at the two melted their hearts. She licked her lips seductively as she watched them put on light cotton robes.

Gabrielle, involved in the tome on inanimate-to-animate transfiguration, turned the page and continued to read and nibble on the end of the fountain pen she was using to make notes, trying to stay focused on her work and ignore the tension Luna's hands running over her skin caused.

"Angel," Luna whispered breathily into Gabrielle's ear. Gabrielle closed her eyes and shuddered at the buzzing sensation caused by Luna's lips dryly brushing against her ear. She turned to look into Luna's gaze.

Luna flared her eyes then looked back over to Harry and Hermione and expected the young Veela's reaction.

Gabrielle tossed the book off her lap and excitedly pushed herself off the bed. Unbeknownst to her, Luna levitated the book using nothing more than a glance, placed a bookmark in it, and set it upon the bedside table just as Gabrielle slammed into Harry, who spun her around twice and set her down on her feet to face Hermione. He had not been the target of her hug.

She hadn't even noticed Harry had moved until he had her in his arms. The spinning had somewhat disoriented her and the next thing she knew, Hermione was holding her.

"Ma bien-aimé petit ange," Hermione whispered into her ear before she pushed back from the hug and gave her nothing more than a peck on the lips, even though Gabrielle clearly wanted more. Hermione forcibly pulled the girl's head down to her shoulder. "Patience," she admonished.

Hermione turned to Luna. "Any word on Fleur?"

"We are told she is resting gently and the child is unharmed. She will be released tomorrow. I let Apolline know that our Little Angel was safe. I thought it best to explain about Fleur tomorrow when they come to visit. We both know Alain would want to bloody his hands personally in dealing with anyone who dared harm a hair on either of his daughters' heads," Luna explained while she watched Gabrielle's attempt to be wilful with the only person she knew who could out-stubborn Harry.

Luna then winked at Hermione and scooted off the bed. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at Gabrielle's back. "Am I just a bed warmer or a glorified teddy bear to you? You run off without even a by your leave?" Luna chastised harshly.

Gabrielle looked at Luna and her complexion turned white. "Non! I mean, No! I am sorry!" she cried, as her eyes filled with tears, and ran to Luna. Gabrielle wrapped her arms tightly about Luna, not expecting her hug to be returned so fiercely.

Luna held Gabrielle's head on her shoulder and patted her back. "I was only joking, My Little French Maid," she said before kissing Gabrielle's temple. Gabrielle just held on tightly as she tried to control her tears.

"But you are right. I shouldn't have just…" Gabrielle began then pushed away from Luna slightly to look into her eyes, "You do know I love you?" Gabrielle asked as she searched Luna's eyes for acknowledgement.

"Yes, Little Angel, I know," Luna replied, giving Gabrielle a brief, chaste kiss much to Gabrielle's frustration.

Exasperated, Gabrielle pulled out of her embrace and threw her hands into the air. "Is my breath that atrocious?! Why will no one kiss me properly?!" she cried out, looking down at the floor and drooping her shoulders in honest frustration, feeling more than a bit rejected.

Harry walked up behind her and caressed her shoulders. "Gabby, I am certain I speak for Hermione and Luna," he began quietly and saw both of them nod at him, "when I say we all want our first time together with you at the level of intimacy you desire to be special."

Gabrielle nodded, but her demeanour did not change.

"Do you want to be exhausted before we even start? Do you want to fall asleep before you've experienced all the sensuality you dreamed of having with us your first time? Don't you want it to be a gift from all of us for all of us?" he asked sincerely.

Gabrielle sighed. "I do," she replied petulantly.

"Then allow us all to set the pace," Harry said soothingly. "We all want you to enjoy every single moment and draw as much pleasure from it as possible. To do that, you need to be well rested and every facet of your mind must be working in concert with us to join with us in the passion of the experience. You know, rationally, how this works. It is an aspect of your Veela nature," Harry explained quietly.

Gabrielle nodded, turned around and cuddled up against Harry as he pulled her in tightly.

"Now let us demonstrate the true level of love we have for you by letting us take you to our bed. Let us hold you through the night. Allow us to watch over you as you sleep. Let us keep you safe. Let us all awaken together. Enjoy yourself in the morning as we wash you and, in doing so together, wash away any fears or hesitation," Harry continued in a soft, gentle voice.

For the first time in a very long time, Gabrielle felt truly safe. She allowed Harry to guide her over to the bed. With neither embarrassment nor protest, she allowed the three of them to gently remove her clothing and give her a warm sponge bath.

Harry slid the robe from his shoulders, climbed onto the bed, and levitated her next to him. He laid his head on the pillow and pulled Gabrielle in tightly to his side. She laid her head on his chest and unconsciously drew circles with her fingers on his chest. Hermione slid her robe from her shoulders and slid in tightly behind Gabrielle, sandwiching her between herself and Harry.

Luna, having learned from the Potter elves how to dress and disrobe with the snap of her fingers, did so and slid into bed on Harry's other side. She and Hermione pulled the sheet up over all of them.

"Lights off," Luna said softly and the room faded to darkness. The four of them slept until well after the sun began to shine through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Gabrielle awoke slowly. She felt one arm around her waist and fingers gently caressing her scalp, forehead, and brow. The scent in the air told her she was being spooned by the woman she had a deep crush on.

"Did you sleep well, Angel?" Hermione asked softly.

Gabrielle nodded, but didn't speak. She wanted to enjoy the sensation of being held in Hermione's arms as long as the older witch would tolerate her cuddlesome nature. She was pleasantly surprised when Hermione didn't stop her soft ministrations.

"That is good to know," Hermione replied, kissing the back of Gabrielle's head.

Gabrielle did her best to cuddle in even more. Sensing this, Hermione pulled her into a tighter, though not uncomfortable, embrace which caused Gabrielle to practically purr in satisfaction.

After a not-at-all-brief time, Hermione addressed the elephant in the room.

"Why did you come Angel? Why now?" she asked. The three of them had invited Gabrielle to join them twice previously, but both times, Gabrielle had been either too embarrassed or too frightened to accept, or so they presumed.

"I wanted to be in charge," Gabrielle said.

Hermione remained silent. She had learned this tactic from her own mother. She just silently nodded, punctuating each downward movement of the nod with a kiss to either Gsbrielle's neck or shoulder blade.

"I wanted to be in control," Gabrielle said as her voice quivered slightly.

Hermione nodded again, her hand around Gabrielle's waist moved lower and began to lightly run her fingertips over Gabrielle's thighs and the sensitive skin above the soft, smooth, hairless mound.

"I wanted to seduce you. To make you mine," Gabrielle explained; her words stuttered as Hermione's fingertips maddeningly teased her. Gabrielle squirmed in an attempt to get Hermione's fingertips to touch her most sensitive places and not merely run tantalising circles in close proximity to them.

"You wanted to seduce me?" Hermione asked in clarification.

If she had been standing, Gabrielle would have stamped her foot. "Yes, but I had it all planned!" she said with a pout followed by a shudder as her squirming was all for naught.

"Yes, I am sure you did," Hermione said with a little grin at the wilful little girl Gabrielle could become when she or her plans were thwarted.

"I did! I had every little detail down," Gabrielle huffed.

"Well, we'll let you surprise us later. Once Fleur awakens, she will be coming to stay here to convalesce and we will need your assistance is setting up her suite," the brunette witch explained.

Gabrielle turned over and looked into Hermione's eyes. "Do you mean that? That I get to still seduce you?" she asked desperately.

Hermione leaned up with rested her head on her hand. "Yes, I do mean that," she replied and punctuated it with a short, though intimate, kiss.

Gabrielle's eyes closed as their lips touched and she felt a spark of magic wash over her that brought her right to the precipice of release.

"And Harry and Luna really love me, too?" Gabrielle asked with a tone of vulnerability.

Hermione leaned in once more and kissed her as her hand slip the last quarter inch to touch the most sensitive place on the outside of her body. The orgasm that rocked her body and filled her mind with a massive detonation of light and abstraction caused her to screech into Hermione's mouth before she lost all rational capability.

"More than you will ever know, Beloved," Hermione replied as she broke the kiss, "more than you will ever know."

Hermione continued to watch the petite Veela witch shudder before she fell into a light doze. It was thirty minutes later when the apparition hall's chime sounded and pulled Hermione from her thoughts of little blonde veela daughters with intense green eyes.

The chime sounded a second time and Luna appeared at the entrance. "Apolline and Alain have arrived," she announced.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-


	4. Angels and Demons - Pyrford

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Does Papa and Mama know of Fleur?" Gabrielle asked Hermione as she received a thorough, though chaste, washing from Hermione.

"Yes, Angel. They both know," Hermione said comfortingly. She then took Gabrielle's chin and forced her to look into her eyes.

"Gabrielle, you know you must be strong for Fleur," Hermione said forcefully.

Gabrielle looked down and tried to turn away from Hermione, but her chin felt as if it were in the grip of an iron fist wrapped in silk.

"You will not display weakness in public. Our relationship works so well because, while we may argue, shout, scream, cry, or melt into a pile of despair in private, we present a strong, unified, determined, fearless facade to the public. You cannot display weakness out in the world because there are those who would exploit your weakness to get to us and they would succeed," Hermione explained.

Gabrielle nodded, but Hermione's grip was relentless.

"Gabrielle, answer me and look at me when you talk to me," Hermione ordered, causing Gabrielle's eyes to meet hers, unshed tears clearly evident.

"Will you be strong for Fleur? For your parents? For yourself? For us? Do you want to become an important part of the whole?" Hermione asked in a tone that communicated both a pleading as well as not permitting any vacillation.

Gabrielle stood fully upright, which put the top of her head at Hermione's nose, and squared her shoulders. "I will be strong for us all," she answered clearly, her voice resolute,

Hermione's frown grew to a wide smile. "Good girl. Your first test will be your parents. Even though you are only sixteen, you are no longer a child. Your mother will present a strong face, but inside she is hurting more than you can imagine. Prove to her you are strong. Prove to her you are capable. Prove to her you are a rock for her tears and despair to crash against again and again so that, when she needs to be strong for Fleur herself, she has no sadness left in her heart; only courage and strength."

Gabrielle smiled at Hermione. "I will do my best, Beautiful," she said and quickly kissed Hermione as the older witch's hand slipped from her chin.

Hermione leaned in and gave a brief, though thoroughly intimate, kiss of her own. "That is all I will ever expect of you, Angel. Now. Let us finish and help soothe your parents' hearts."

Gabrielle smiled up at her. "Je t'adore," she whispered and kissed the side of Hermione's smile.

Hermione's smile grew slightly and she shook her head ever so slightly. Her eyes softened as she reverently whispered, "Que tu es belle."

Their shower took slightly longer than they expected to actually get clean again.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Apolline Delacour was an observant and intelligent woman. She believed her youngest daughter had a crush on the famous Man-Who-Won. She also knew the young man in front of them was quite intimately involved with the rather chaotic blonde witch on his left arm and the focused, logical witch who was nowhere to be seen; a condition shared with her youngest daughter.

It was therefore with some surprise to her as Gabrielle stepped into the room with the older witch's arm around her youngest daughter's waist. The brunette witch took her arm from around Gabrielle's waist and took Harry's right arm while Gabrielle took Hermione's right arm.

"Mademoiselle and Monsieur Delacour, welcome to the seat of House Potter and our home," Hermione said and curtsied. Luna, too, curtsied. Surprising her father, Gabrielle also curtsied.

Apolline was perplexed by the formality as they had known all three of the Potters for nearly a decade and all had been to the Delacour home numerous times as close friends. But she did as she always did in strange situations. She watched, listened, and pondered.

Alain, though a senior ministry official in France and quite a political animal, was taken aback and slightly affronted by the formal tone of the greeting.

"Have we done something to insult or offend you, Hermione? Harry? Luna? And Gabrielle, what is this? Come and greet your father properly," he chastised, but he felt his wife's arm snake through his and, due to the grip, knew he was already in trouble with her.

Gabrielle wanted to move to embrace her father, but Hermione held her hand fast.

"Alain," Harry said, causing both Delacour adults to turn their attention to him, "and Apolline, this is the first time we have invited you to our home. A formal welcome is required, much the way it was when we three were first invited into your home," Harry clarified.

"While that was a time of civil war in this country, much of that conflict centred around the lack of respect and understanding those of mixed birth or children of non-magical parents had because those groups of magicals had never been properly taught the histories or purposes behind the rituals that held and hold our societies together," Harry further explained.

The light of understanding shone across Apolline's eyes a moment before Alain also understood the underlying message.

"Lord Potter," Alain said, looking at Harry before he turned his gaze to Hermione, "Lady Potter," he addressed her before his eyes moved to Luna, "and Lady Lovegood. The House of Delacour thanks you and is humbled by the hospitality you have already shown us and we hope our two houses will remain honourable to one another and true friends," Alain answered before he turned his attention to Gabrielle.

"And House Delacour most especially calls out our gratitude for the care and gentle hearts you have already so freely demonstrated to both of our most cherished," Alain said as he looked proudly at the strength his youngest daughter was projecting.

An outside observer would comment that it seemed the elder Delacours, Harry, Hermione, and Luna knew what was about to happen while Gabrielle had not the slightest clue.

A pulse of amber magic flashed through the room from floor to ceiling before coalescing around Alain and Apolline before it once more dissipated into the air.

Both elder Delacours felt as if their magic had been suppressed and any mental shields completely bypassed as every thought, every memory, every experience had been viewed, read, listened to, and judged. Apparently neither had been found wanting.

Harry moved first, drawing the ladies along with him, extricated his arms from Hermione and Luna and embraced Alain in a firm, comfortable hug. Hermione extricated her arm from Gabrielle and hugged Apolline tightly, though not painfully so. After a few moments, Hermione was replaced by Luna, who hugged Apolline just as tightly. Finally, though the hug also included a kiss on the cheek, Gabrielle held her mother in her arms.

Alain and Harry watched as Apolline was hugged by the younger three. At some silent communication from Apolline, Alain turned to Harry.

"Harry, perhaps we can leave the ladies and talk? Man to man?" he asked.

A well-rehearsed hand signal from Hermione let Harry know this was acceptable. "Let's retire to the study, Alain. I think we will enjoy our conversation better with a decent cigar and good cognac," Harry said with exaggerated formality, causing Alain to laugh and follow Harry up the broad spiralling stairs.

As Hermione had foretold, Gabrielle and Apolline sat on the loveseat in the sitting room and Apolline appeared to think she needed to comfort her youngest daughter. When it was apparent Gabrielle had already achieved some level of peace with the situation, she reached out to her mother, who immediately broke down and cried in lament.

She cried tears of sorrow for a world that could allow such a ruthless and heartless bastard to exist much less be allowed to live.

She cried tears of loss for Bill, for Fleur's heart and love, for the as-yet-unborn child who would never know her father.

She cried for the guilt both she and Alain felt in not being able to protect Fleur from the evils of the world.

She cried tears of remorse for not insisting Bill and Fleur come live with them at the family's manor house where they would still be alive and happy together.

She cried tears of pity for the everlasting harm this would cause Fleur and how Fleur would spend the rest of her life alone because no one would want to marry her with the stigma of being raped upon her shoulders.

She cried tears of murderous anger and wanted to drown her daughter's attacker in her tears after her fireballs nearly cooked him to the core.

All during her mother's tearful sobbing, wailing, and angry speech, Gabrielle held her tightly against her and whispered soft, soothing words that countered every one of her mother's arguments and, for the first time in her life, understanding what it was to be truly strong on the outside when all she wanted to do was curl into a ball and sob on someone else's shoulder. But she knew her mother needed her. That Fleur needed her. And that, in repayment for all the times she had been the one crying - the one who was pitiful, sad, and angry – that is was her first instalment of repayment for the insurmountable debt of devotion and understanding her family had always provided for her.

If this were not sufficient enough a reason, she would do it for her not-as-yet, in her mind, family. She would make Hermione proud to call her "Love."

"Look at you, My Gabrielle," Apolline said, once she'd gotten her crying under control. "You are still a little girl on the outside but such a beautiful woman within." Still talking to Gabrielle, she turned to look at Hermione, "Does she know what a wonderful gift you have given her?"

"Mama," Gabrielle said in an iron tone that obviously surprised her mother judging from the way her head whipped around to look at her daughter. She missed seeing Hermione's eyes flash to an illuminated, iridescent gold. "They both, and Harry too, are my future. I am still your daughter, true, but I choose to be with them for the rest of my life."

Apolline watched and listened to the inflection of Gabrielle's voice. There was no guile, no uncertainty. She could see a resolute, determined woman who had decided on a possibly dangerous route to navigate, but with rewards eminently worth the journey.

"I understand, My Gabrielle," Apolline said, still attempting to stifle the tears that continued to fall. Still, she was able to smile at the happiness she knew would fill her youngest daughter's heart. She gently cupped Gabrielle's cheek and looked into her eyes. She was only mildly surprised when she sensed Gabrielle dropping her mental shields and allowing her unfettered access her to her thoughts, hopes, dreams, and memories.

Apolline's mind was literally flooded with memories of Gabrielle's encounters with Hermione, from the bushy-haired, much-younger witch hugging Harry while she removed the blanket from herself and wrapped it and her arms around Gabrielle in an attempt to warm her to the first time Gabrielle had invited Hermione to wash her and had guided the older witch's hands to her centre and Hermione unabashedly pleasuring Gabrielle until the young Veela passed out. And finally, the discussion Hermione had had with Gabrielle regarding the projection of strength and indefatigable resolve projected to those not of their close-knit group.

"I cannot express in words alone how happy I am for you, my child. I believe your loves are worthy of you. You have my blessing, Gabrielle. Not merely my understanding, but I fully accept, appreciate, and bless your union with people I have long held in my heart as worthy of being my own children. You are all now my children of the heart," Apolline declared.

Gabrielle quickly looked over at Hermione, who appeared to be in deep conversation with Luna, but looked at Gabrielle and nodded to her with a smile, communicating far more than her acceptance of Gabrielle. As the two women's eyes met, Gabrielle felt her mind gently touched and Hermione's voice whispered sensually to her, "Welcome to the Family, My Love. Give Apolline a hug from all of her children."

It was as if her mother had been reading her mind. Apolline opened her arms just as Gabrielle opened hers and tearfully hugged her mother, happy that her mother was not only accepting of her less-than-socially-acceptable relationship but actually blessed their relationship even though she knew that Hermione was the core of her love.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Hermione had been watching the interaction and discussion her littlest love was having with her mother and would give Gabrielle whatever support she needed. Ever since Harry had rescued her from the Black Lake, she had the premonition the young Veela would be in her heart for the rest of her days. Her heart soared when Gabrielle had pleadingly looked at her and with no more than a look and a projection of her feelings had let her free to make her own choice. She also wept in relief when Apolline had accepted Gabrielle's choice.

She could feel Luna's joy as well, as the blonde witch squeezed her hands. She looked back to Luna and was quite pleasantly surprised when Luna embraced her and kissed her deeply and passionately. She felt the powerful, all-encompassing, compassionate, shared love coming from Luna as the kiss continued.

Luna was genuinely happy for Hermione and Gabrielle. Not only would this give Gabrielle the understanding, loving, and deeply-committed relationship she deserved, but she knew that, while Hermione truly and unreservedly loved both her and Harry, there had been something missing for some time. Somehow their union still felt incomplete but, based on her dreams, she thought she knew how to make it more complete even with the addition of Gabrielle. It would take another week or two, likely until Christmas Eve, to close their Union and bring about a feeling of completion.

Until then, Luna would enjoy the warm glow Hermione had when she was surrounded by those who loved her and were loved by her.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"You wished to speak privately, Alain?" Harry asked once the door to his study was closed and both men had a dram of cognac.

Alain took a sip of his cognac. "_Is he trying to impress me? Henri IV Cognac Grande Champagne?!_" he thought, looking at the diamond-encrusted bottle that was more jewellery than vessel. He tried his best to savour the flavour of it, but what he had to discuss with the young man in front of him was priceless to him.

"I believe, Harry, as someone I consider a son, you will cherish Gabrielle as much, if not more so, than I myself do," Alain said bluntly.

Harry had taken the first sip with a great deal of air and swished the cognac around in his mouth, gaining a feel for the complexity of the flavours as it washed and effervesced over his palate while he formulated an answer.

"Alain, before we discuss this too deeply, let me first state that I consider you a man of honour. I hope that feeling is reciprocated," he said after he let the cognac slowly trickle down his throat.

Alain looked at the much younger man and used all his immense power of articulation to stifle his snort at the question. In his own mind, Harry was far more honourable than he, himself. Harry had not merely stood against Voldemort. Harry had stood against his death eaters and those who had been irrecoverably compromised by Tom Riddle and fended them off while non-combatants on both sides had been ferried to safety.

Once those innocents and those who had no stomach to fight had been escorted from the field, Harry, who had clearly been holding back his power, unleashed attack after hellish attack on his foes and come out not merely victorious, but the victor without question.

"Harry, you are quite likely the most honourable man I have ever heard of, much less met," Alain answered honestly. He looked down at his glass and once more looked up at Harry. "And I know Gabrielle will be safe with you. While it is not the future I sought for my youngest daughter, I do not believe she could have chosen a better path."

Neither said anything for a few moments. Harry pondered the situation and felt the only thing he could say was the truth.

"Alain, I love Hermione and Luna with all of my heart. Under different circumstances I would tell you that Gabrielle would have no chance to have a place there," he explained and took a sip of his cognac. He looked out the window and into the tree line, searching for the words that mirrored his thoughts.

Alain said nothing but he, too, took a sip of his cognac and looked out at the land, not wanting to interrupt the man who would shortly be more than just a son in his heart, but in the eyes of the law as well.

"You know, when I met Hermione on the Hogwarts' Express, I saw in her a kindred spirit. I didn't actually consciously know that at the time, but somehow we connected to one another that Halloween, when I stopped a troll from killing her," Harry said, trying to find a path through the conversation.

"Three years later, I found our Luna," he said, looking over and meeting Alain's eyes. "I didn't think I would ever have a happier evening than the Yule Ball that year. Here I was, entered into a competition I didn't want to be in, hadn't entered my name in," he looked back out to the grounds once more, "and yet I had not a single care in the world because I was dancing with, in my mind, the two most beautiful girls in the world and still had no idea how I had managed it," he said, chuckling slightly at the memory.

"That is when you truly met Fleur?" Alain asked.

Harry laughed a moment. "Yes. Her date was an older Ravenclaw, Roger Davies. You may know him from your dealings with the Ministry," Harry said, looking sideways at Alain.

The older man snorted and nodded. "Yes. Quite the blustering fool," Alain said, taking another sip. "He tends to avoid me after he spoke disparagingly of Fleur, having the audacity to make claims against her person until he discovered I was her father."

Harry turned and looked at him. "Really? What claims?" he asked in mild curiosity.

"Things true gentlemen would never say," Alain replied with a pointed look.

"Ah," Harry replied as he looked back out the window. "Anything he would have to say about her would have no merit in my eyes, regardless. And, yes," he explained, swirling his glass a bit before he emptied his glass, "that was the evening I truly met Fleur. She was upset that the idiot was not as immune to her thrall as she had believed. The three of us found her crying frustrated tears outside."

"I think if you were to talk with her, she would only remember the details of that evening from that point on," Alain explained. "She wrote two letters home that evening. She wrote one letter to us and one to Gabrielle." He paused as Harry held up the bottle to refill his glass. He nodded and waited until the glass was topped off before continuing.

"I didn't think I had ever seen Gabrielle so excited before. Fleur had told her of meeting you and how Gabrielle's hero was much better in real life than in any of the children's books she had spent hours reading as bedtime stories," Alain explained as he smiled at Harry's expression. "Yes, Gabrielle was completely and utterly infatuated with you and knew you would fall in love with her if she ever had the chance to meet you."

"And she did. Have a chance to meet me, that is," Harry said somewhat sadly.

"None of that now, Harry. I think she realised shortly after you rescued her, Hermione, and Luna, especially after that fiasco on the dock, that compared to those two, she was just a little girl with a crush," Alain said softly.

"Do you want to know something funny, Alain?" Harry asked as he once more looked at the older man through the corner of his eye. Alain nodded.

"When Fleur and Gabrielle kissed me on the dock, and Warrior Princess Hermione appeared, I think I got to watch as Gabby, the little girl with the crush on the Boy-Who-Lived, was burned away by the love she has for Hermione," he explained brightly with a snort. "I think it was cemented when Hermione grasped Fleur by the hair and kissed her. Here was a clearly-attached witch who had the courage to kiss another girl in front of hundreds of people and also managed to kiss a Veela senseless."

"And what of your feelings for Fleur, Harry?" Alain asked with a touch of concern in his voice.

Harry turned to face Alain and waited for him to meet his eyes.

"Alain, whatever my feelings may be, they will be put aside for Fleur's needs. To be perfectly honest, I am far more concerned about the situation with Fleur than I am with the situation with Gabrielle. You must certainly know that my relationship with Gabrielle is going to become that of husband and wife within a few weeks at most and that another formal Celebration of Union will be announced shortly," Harry said with a hint of questioning.

Alain nodded and both men took sips of their cognac.

Harry looked down at his glass and watched the reflections ripple upon the surface of the deep amber fluid. "Fleur loves Bill very much. That will likely never change. That her attacker killed him and that she, for the most part, was forced to enjoy her experience is going to make her feel guilt I cannot even imagine. She needs a brother, a father, a mother, and three younger sisters more than she needs a lover. Eventually, from what little I know of her, she may want to have a more intimate relationship with someone. Somehow, I doubt that intimate relationship will be with me," Harry said softly before he looked up from the cognac and met Alain's gaze once more. "If, however, that is what she wants, I will not turn her away," Harry said resolutely. "If it came to that, I think my rejecting her would do far more harm than good."

Alain set his glass down on the desk and, to Harry's surprise, took Harry's glass from him and set it on the desk as well. Alain then gave Harry a fierce hug. Harry was more surprised at the hug, but after a few moments returned it.

Alain pushed out of the hug, looked at the surprised look on Harry's face and hugged him again. He released it when he had his own emotions firmly clamped down again.

"You, Harry, are amazing. Thank you," Alain said though not entirely masking the melancholy that was gripping him. He handed Harry back his glass before picking his own up and proposing a toast to the confused young man.

"To those we love and cherish. Long may we do so," he said, holding his glass up to Harry, who clinked his glass and both drank their glasses halfway empty. Both men grimaced for a moment as the heat of the alcohol burned its way down their throat and warmed their stomachs.

Harry topped their glasses off again. "I am not very good at this sort of thing, Alain, but what comes to mind is that I hope I am at least a tenth the father to my children as you so clearly are for yours," he explained and held his glass up to Alain.

Alain shook his head wryly and clinked his glass against Harry's but spoke first. "Harry, you are a far better man now than I was when I was twice your current age. You will be a wonderful father to all of your children. I need but see the smile on the girls' faces to know that," he said before he gestured for Harry to drink and the two men once more tipped back their glasses and drained them.

Harry picked up the bottle to refill their glasses when Alain held his hand over his. "No. One more and I won't be able to walk, much less think."

Harry nodded and set the half-full bottle down. Their glasses and the bottle disappeared with the sound of small fingers snapping. Harry looked over to see Orenda.

"Mistress Hermione asks the two of you to meet with her in the main library, Master Harry," the elf said, twisting her hands in anxiety.

"Whatever is the matter, Orenda? Why are you upset?" Harry asked.

"Mistress Hermione, Mistress Luna, and Mistress Hermione's Gabrielle are crying and Orenda doesn't know how to be helping them, Master Harry," Orenda explained in concern.

Harry knelt down and took Orenda's hands into his own. "Well, you did the right thing coming and getting us. Thank you, Orenda," Harry said before he released one of Orenda's hands.

Without asking, Orenda took Alain's hand and popped the two men into the midst of a four-way feminine crying contest and an overwhelmed Apolline trying to hug them all.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"I was happier than I can say when Luna flooed to let me know you were safe. You father was having the elves tear the house apart looking for you," Apolline chided Gabrielle, who had the good graces to appear to feel guilty. Apolline turned to Hermione. "Are you certain us being here isn't going to be a burden? I know you and Luna will be able to take care of Fleur's needs, but we don't want to impose."

Hermione gave Apolline an appraising look. "Don't make me start referring to you as Mademoiselle Delacour, Apolline," she said, causing Apolline to give her a mock look of indignation. "You opened your home to us after defeating Tom Riddle..." Apolline interrupted her.

"As any true friend would!" Apolline exclaimed, though affectionately.

"True, but we wanted to be out of Britain and give Harry time to come to terms with what he had done. You and Alain were like surrogate parents to him. Really, to all three of us," Hermione explained.

"There can be no debts between family, daughter of my heart," Apolline explained as she stood, walked over to the brunette witch, and took her hand. "Do not make the mistake that you somehow owe us anything."

Hermione nodded, though her thoughts and vision were elsewhere.

Apolline remembered all too well when Harry and Luna had brought a nearly-catatonic Hermione to the Delacour ancestral home.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Although Hermione had sent her parents to Australia, she had not altered their memories as she had told everyone. When it had come to that, she had realised she loved and respected both her parents and herself too much to strip their memories from them.

Both of her parents had written letters to her every day while they were separated. When Harry and Luna had journeyed with her to Australia, it was with a bright smile and a joy-filled heart. When Hermione opened the safety deposit box at the Sydney branch of St. George Bank, instead of the letter she expected, there was a letter directing her to a solicitor's office.

Hermione sat and listened to the solicitor's meaningless platitudes of sympathy as he explained her parents had been killed when a runaway lorry had ploughed through the building that had housed their dental practice after the driver suffered an acute deep vein pulmonary thrombosis. While her mother, Sarah, had been killed instantly, her father, Roger, held on for two days. The solicitor handed her his last letter.

"I'm sorry we couldn't be here for you, Kitten. Your mother and I love you very much," she read. It had clearly been dictated to someone as the letter was written in a clearly-feminine script.

The letter had slipped from her hand and fluttered to the floor.

To Hermione, the weeks that followed had been empty and hollow. She had few lucid memories of that time. Most of those memories were of either Luna or Harry, or both of them together, having done some small task or having made some small gesture to attempt to pull her back from the brink of the abyss to which her despair had brought her.

For many nights, either Alain or Apolline had sat with the trio as Harry and Luna tried to help Hermione through her grief. Then, when tragedy struck again and took Luna's father, Xenophilius, from her, Apolline had, many times, held both girls at once, letting them cry out their grief.

Harry had done what he thought was best – trying to stay awake and available for them. When word had arrived about Xeno's passing, Harry managed to stay awake for twelve days straight. On the thirteenth day, he had been talking to Alain when he suddenly went wide-eyed, clutched at his temples, and collapsed in a heap at Alain's feet. Both Delacour adults had feared the worst, only to discover Harry had been surviving on very little food, willpower, and magic. His lack of self-worth actually helped both girls as they now had something to focus on.

Though Harry slept for three days and nights, both girls took care of him and each other in shifts.

It had been Padma and Parvati Patil who had taken care of both families' arrangements. As the Lovegood family was one of the older families in Britain, Xeno's body was held in stasis until the new heir, Luna, could be available to light the Gubraithian Fire within his funeral pyre. For Hermione's parents, they had spoken with the solicitor and found a letter documenting their desires. Sarah and Roger had already selected a plot they had purchased which overlooked the Straits of Dover and the French coastline.

The Twins, as Apolline had dubbed them, had taken care of all the arrangements on the muggle side, including having Sarah's and Roger's remains transported from Sydney to Britain.

With the girls seemingly on the mend and now focused on Harry's health and well-being, including quite a bit of nagging by both Fleur and Gabrielle, Harry, too, had recovered.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Hermione, is everything okay?" Apolline asked of Hermione. When, after the third time she asked the question with no response, she placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder.

Hermione looked at Apolline and tears welled up in her eyes. "Mum? Daddy?" she whispered as the tears and their underlying emotions constricted her throat.

Luna rushed over to Hermione, having heard her whispered questions and watched as her lover unexpectedly experienced an emotional collapse she had not seen in some time. Because of the despair-filled tone of Hermione's voice and the words she spoke, coupled with the horrors she had witnessed the past several days, it seemed as if all the mental barriers she had erected against the pain of the loss of both of her parents had been torn asunder, releasing those feelings in a torrential flood of emotion. In her headlong rush into grief, Luna attached herself to the one person who reminded her so much of her mother.

Gabrielle was both frightened and immensely sad; frightened because her Veela nature was causing her to empathise with Hermione to the extent she could feel Hermione's emotional state and sad because these emotions felt as if they were her own. Even though she could see her mother was alive and well and holding her lover, Gabrielle felt as if her parents had died and it was tearing her heart asunder.

Apolline now had three hysterically emotion young women clinging to her for the barest threads of sanity and had called out Harry's name. Much to her relief, less than a minute later, both men were popped into the room on the arms of one of the Potters' elves.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Apolline and Harry walked out of the bedroom and into the sitting room beyond, where Alain had waited.

"They are asleep?" Alain asked.

"Hermione is asleep. We, however, were shooed out," Apolline explained and gave Harry a brief, odd look before she turned to her husband and smiled. "Gabrielle wanted to have a private conversation with Luna while Hermione rested."

"I see," Alain said. He then looked at Harry's concerned expression. "Something you would like to share?" he asked as he looked at the troubled young man.

Harry looked up at him with a look of indecision. Alain watched as the expression turned to one of resolve before Harry met his eyes and nodded. "Let's discuss it while we have a snack," Harry said.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Harry led them to a room he referred to as their breakfast nook, which to both Alain and Apolline appeared to be a decadent combination of a bedroom, a formal bath, and a dining room all rolled into one.

"Do you eat breakfast here often?" Apolline asked as she looked around the room that was the size of the formal dining room at the Delacour Mansion. The bed, alone, was four times the size of a normal king-sized bed.

"Not often enough," Harry said. He ran his hand through his hair as he, too, looked around the room to discern what thoughts Apolline may have had about "The Nook" as he thought of it. "The last few months have had us each working on our own endeavours as well as one or two group efforts, so we've rarely all been together and had the time to simply lounge about," Harry explained.

Apolline gave Alain a glance.

"So about our daughter's conversation with Lady Lovegood?" Alain asked as bluntly as he dared.

Harry looked up from his thoughts and gestured for the older couple to sit down. "To explain, we need to go back to my second year at Hogwarts. I, and by association Hermione, was fundamentally ostracised by almost everyone else in the school. There were a handful of people, we learned later there were even those in Slytherin, who believed me, believed Hermione, believed I was not the one who had been writing in blood on the walls or who was petrifying other students. At one point, Hermione and I had been walking to breakfast and noticed a first-year Ravenclaw limping down the corridor. She was hardly dressed for the Scottish Winter, and the clothes she did have were mismatched and much to large for her. She also did not have her wand."

"Luna?" Apolline asked.

Harry nodded. "Hermione had seen her sitting at the Ravenclaw table since the sorting, but she hadn't put together the subconscious observations she had made until we saw her in the corridor." Harry paused and wiped his face with his hands as his anxiety level grew.

"Hermione nearly lost it. After putting up with all of the rumours, lies, accusations and the like, seeing Luna like that enraged her." Harry looked up and met Apolline's gaze. "Before Hogwarts, Hermione had been at a muggle boarding school. She lasted a month there before her parents withdrew her. None of the students there liked the fact that she more easily associated with the professors and tutors, and the adults soon realised she outdistanced them in book knowledge. Needless to say, none of them were at all supportive of her. Because of this, Hermione tolerates bullies as well as a Hungarian Horntail tolerates sheep wandering through its lair."

This caused Alain to snort which, in turn, caused Harry to smile for a moment.

"Regardless, we befriended Luna and Hermione took her up to the Gryffindor girls' dormitory and kitted her out for the day in properly-fitting clothes. We agreed to meet her every morning before breakfast, just before lunch, and right after our last class each day. At first I thought of her as the little sister I never had," Harry explained.

Apolline could tell by the tightness around his eyes and his fierce focus that he was experiencing mild flashbacks, complete with strong emotional content.

"Then, I thought my life had ended. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, me included, were out on the pitch having a practice. Sirius and I had been in contact with both the Goblins and the British Department of Magical Law Enforcement in an eventually-successful bid to get him a trial with Veritaserum or, failing that, some form of diplomatic immunity from one of the ICW signatory countries or the North American Confederation of Magical Beings, so I was not nearly as worried about Sirius since he had received asylum from the NACoMB so I could focus on the events at Hogwarts," Harry said. He had closed his eyes and had begun massaging his right forearm in an effort to remain calm. This did not go unnoticed by either of the Delacours.

"I was about a hundred feet up, chasing the snitch at full speed. Hermione and Luna had told me they were going to the library to do some research. I had been out on the pitch for almost four hours so was physically a bit tired. I was less than a second from catching the snitch, pulling out of the steep dive I was in when I was suddenly somewhere else and I could see Luna and Hermione laying on the floor of a corridor that seemed familiar. They had both been petrified, though I had no way of knowing what I was experiencing wasn't some kind of dream or a hallucination. I called out their names at the top of my voice and ploughed a furrow into the pitch. I woke in the infirmary between them," he explained, looking out the window with a faraway look.

He turned to Alain. "I didn't know what to think or what to feel. I didn't hear the school's healer's explanation about using an elixir to restore them or that they were petrified. All I knew was that something had changed within me. I felt dead inside; as if the light or the spark that was my life had been not extinguished, exactly, but the fire had burned down to barely-glowing embers."

"But you still had magic. You were still alive," Alain replied, "as were the girls."

Harry smiled a smile that didn't make it to his eyes. "Yes, but for lack of a better word, I could no longer feel her..." he shook his head, "them."

"You know what happened in the chamber, either from newspapers or the WWN," Harry said, "so I was no longer thought of as the heir of Slytherin, Ginny was now a vassal to House Potter because of the Life Debt, and the school was back to normal for everyone except those petrified," Harry explained.

"And you," Alain responded, "though I am not sure there has ever been a definition of 'normal' for you," he finished with a slightly-forced laugh.

"Yes, and except for me," Harry practically whispered. He turned to Apolline. "Tell me, did Hermione or Luna ever tell you of their time in the Infirmary when they were petrified?"

Apolline gave Harry a tight little smile. "They did, Harry. Central to their tale was the fact that you spent every waking moment when you were not in class in the Infirmary with them."

Harry nodded with a genuine smile. "It was about dinner when I suddenly felt intensely energised. At first I had no idea what was happening. The moment I realised what it was I was feeling, I ran headlong to the Infirmary. They had given Luna the potion a few minutes before they gave it to Hermione. Luna was practically inconsolable when she first regained the use of her body. We clung to each other as we waited for Hermione to be restored," Harry recounted. He noticed he had been crying but wiped the tears away with a frustrated, angry gesture.

Orenda popped in with a tray of appetisers and three chilled glasses of Elven wine before she popped away.

Harry gestured to the food, "Please. Help yourselves." Alain prepared three plates for them and gave one to his wife and another to Harry.

They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes before Harry continued.

"With both of them alive again, in my eyes, I could feel the spark growing and building again. I felt it reach a peak and then something tore free within me. This sensation of tearing happened six more times. Each time, I felt whatever it was within me grow, double, and redouble in size. When it stopped, I felt like, instead of a spark, I now had a galaxy growing within me." His tears had stopped before Orenda had left the room.

"You magic was bound?!" Alain asked angrily. "What evil, dastardly, unclean, genderless, squib-like cochon did that to you? More importantly, why?!"

Harry had begun to chuckle. "Hermione, and Luna too, felt something as well within them. When I explained to the two of them about the tearing sensation, Luna told me I couldn't tell anyone about it." He turned to Alain. "Seven bindings."

"SEVEN?! *SEVEN*!?" Alain practically screamed.

"Yes, but I'm better now," Harry said, but couldn't help himself and burst into laughter.

Alain looked at him incredulously. "What in the name of...!?" Alain started, but stopped and took three deep, cleansing breaths. "What is it you find so amusing, Harry?" he asked much more calmly.

"How much power would your average person demonstrate under a single binding?" Harry asked pointedly.

"C'est vraiment des conneries!" Alain growled.

Apolline, sitting next to her husband, smacked him on the top of his head, "What kind of language is that to use in front of our host?!" she demanded.

Alain looked quite chastised and then looked at Harry. Harry had a look of incredulity on his face before he burst out laughing. "I did not intend to imply you are lying to us, Harry," Alain said, thoroughly cowed by his wife's look of anger.

"Oh, Alain, I am certain of that. Considering how upset you were, can you just imagine how upset Hermione was after she did some research?" Harry asked rhetorically.

"Regardless, that is neither here nor there at the moment. The very next morning, Hermione and I were on our way to get Luna from the Ravenclaw dorm when we heard her scream from around the bend in the corridor. We took off at a run and found that her dorm mates had not only failed to learn to not mess with Luna, but they had actually slammed the door on her fingers and locked it with her hand trapped between the door and the doorjamb," Harry ignored their shocked looks and shouldered on in the retelling.

"She didn't cast a spell. She didn't even have her wand in her hand. The door disintegrated into a cloud of splinters that flew into the Ravenclaw common room. Hermione's hair was blowing around in an eldritch wind. Her hair and fingertips were crackling with magic. She told me to take Luna to the Infirmary. Luna had been moaning in pain from her crushed fingers, but the moment I took hold of her arm to support her, we were both instantly in the Infirmary. Luna was being tended to within seconds and her physical wounds healed within minutes," Harry explained.

"I don't know precisely what spells Hermione used on those Ravenclaws, but all of them were, and still are, utterly terrified of both Hermione and Luna. I took Luna to the Hogwarts kitchen, where the house elves provided breakfast. Whatever it was Hermione had done had taken quite some time and she had been popped by the elves to the table the elves provided in the kitchen for us."

"Once Hermione saw that Luna was safe and taken care of, she somewhat broke down and held onto us for the rest of the day. As it turned out, the professors had cancelled classes for the remainder of the week because none of the Ravenclaws could remember anything except their name, the driving and despairing desire to publicly and respectfully apologise to Luna, and a deep-seated need to never upset any one of the three of us ever again," Harry said, as he tipped his flute of elven wine back and drained it.

"I have since found out that, unbeknownst to Hermione, Luna has pledged herself to Hermione," Harry explained.

Both Alain and Apolline gasped.

"Pledged? Are you certain?!" Apolline asked.

"Do you know what that means? The books I did my research in explained it incompletely at best, and claimed it was either nothing more than a non-binding promise to it being akin to a soul or life bond," Harry explained.

"The Veela know much of pledging to another. Do you know what Luna's gift to Hermione was?" Apolline asked.

"Gift?" Harry asked, then after a few moments of pondering, questioned himself whether he should share his suspicions. "If I am not mistaken, Luna, freely with love and devotion, gave Hermione a head-of-house ring she acquired through the rites of the victor through trial by combat and the rights of the victor for the spoils of that same combat," Harry explained.

"Merde!" Apolline swore softly in awe. "Do you think she knew what she was doing?"

"Most definitely. This is Luna we're talking about, after all. When she arrived home with it, she rather casually took it off her own finger and gave it to Hermione. She said, 'To the victor, the spoils,' removed the ring from her own finger, took Hermione's hand, extended her right ring finger, and slid the ring on," Harry explained, remembering how child-like, not childish, Luna had seemed when she had given Hermione the ring.

"Harry, you may not realise this, but Luna was essentially giving her life over to Hermione," Apolline explained, though Harry could tell she was quite surprised. "The normal level of pledging one's self to another is akin to the bond of brotherhood. What Luna has done is far and above that...and do you know why she did this to Hermione and not to you?" she asked.

"Luna acknowledged a life debt for the episode with the basilisk and another after the fall of Tom Riddle. She told me the first time the three of us were intimate that she owed me two life debts, a line debt for House Lovegood, and that I owned her very soul," Harry explained and looked pointedly at Apolline even though the older witch stared at him with a hardened glare.

"What would you have me do? Tell her she is not worth it? Deny Luna her own self-worth when I told her I could not accept that? When I made that mistake in the moment, she was first hopelessly sad until she remembered I had no pureblood upbringing."

Harry stood and paced a few moments, allowing him to collect his thoughts. Apolline felt thoroughly chastised. "_Of course a British-born pureblood would think in the terms Luna considered,_" Apolline thought to herself sadly. In France, they would be considered the best of friends, or lovers if that is what both parties chose. In archaic Britain, the person who placed themselves at risk essentially owned the life they saved.

It was then that the light of understanding dawned on her but wanted confirmation. "She acknowledged a life debt for you killing Tom Riddle?" she asked.

"She did," Harry answered mid-pace.

"Did she do that intentionally?" Apolline asked, wanting to ensure Harry understood what she had done.

"Oh yes. I was quite amused, considering it registered life debts at the Ministry and Gringott's for anyone ever affected by Riddle," Harry replied.

"What did you do?"

"I instigated a tithe system." Harry replied and laughed heartily for a few moments. "The Goblins later told me they had to use shovels to move the galleons out of the lobby of Gringott's."

"How much?" Alain asked, not recalling ever having heard about this from his own account manager at Gringott's.

"One galleon per life per year. For most families, the Goblins take the tithe out as part of their vault services," Harry said, suddenly somber.

"What do you do with it all?" Apolline asked.

"It goes to St. Mungos or Saint Barthélemy's. Last year you may recall both getting a new pre-natal care wing," Harry admitted. Apolline looked at him quizzically. Harry answered the silent question he thought was being asked. "Both Hermione and Luna have been dropping subtle and not-so-subtle hints about having children soon. Shouldn't all of Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and France benefit from their being more Potters, Blacks, and Lovegoods in the world?" Harry asked rhetorically in a coy voice.

"Wait! You're the head of the Black family as well? I though Sirius was alive and well," Alain responded.

Harry shook his head and filled his wine flute again. He set the bottle down, took a sip of the sweet, white, magically-infused wine before turning back to the two. "Sirius was in Azkaban for nearly eleven years. Due to the lack of care, the long-term effects of dementors, and an issue with his core, Sirius can no longer father children at all. It's the reason he and Ginny are still together. He made me his heir and then, to enact his will, he swore an oath of fealty to me to make me the new head of House Black," Harry explained as the Black Head of House ring appeared on his right ring finger in a flash of yellow magic.

"So had you planned Gabrielle being your third wife all along?" Alain asked with a touch of anger.

Harry immediately became defensive. "Alain, what the hell? Not just no, but hell no! We had planned on rotating the family names through all the children so there would be a guaranteed heir for each house, regardless of the genders of the children or the particular house's requirements for an heir. I can assure you that Gabrielle is not going to be some kind of unloved brood mare," Harry said hotly before he stalked over to the loveseat the two were sitting on. His anger burned hotly and his eyes glowed in righteous indignation.

Alain stood, but had no intention for a confrontation or a fight. He held his hands up, palms out, in a gesture of supplication. "Please forgive a father his concern for his daughters, especially considering Fleur's circumstances and all that has happened in the past few days. Gabrielle has had many boys sniffing and chasing after her."

Harry's shoulders slumped. "Alain, I thought you, of all people, would know better than that. What happened to me being the most honourable man you know? I would never take advantage of Gabrielle, much as I would never take advantage of Fleur." He looked into Alain's eyes searchingly.

Alain, too, seemed to be searching Harry's soul for the truth of the matter. Whatever it was each of them saw in the other's eyes provided them the answers for which they had searched.

"I unreservedly apologise, my son," Alain said contritely and held his hand out.

Harry grasped his wrist and nodded. "There is nothing to forgive. As you said, looking out for your daughters."

"The strength of will Gabrielle demonstrated when you arrived seemed to surprise you...?" Harry said questioningly.

"We had not expected our daughter to be wilful to us," Alain explained.

Harry nodded then looked to Apolline.

She looked at him and watched his eyes. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "She has already chosen," she said with an edge of surprise.

"She has," Harry replied.

"Chosen what?" Alain asked in a tense, clipped voice.

Apolline looked at him with an expression reserved for husbands the world over who appeared to be inexplicable dense at times. "She's decided to join them for life, Alain," Apolline said.

Alain looked relieved. "Is that what you're worried about?" he asked and watched her nod. "Oh thank goodness! I knew that before we left home," he responded somewhat cheerfully.

A cross expression darkened Apolline's face. "You are truly an infuriating man, Alain. I do still love you, though sometimes I question why," she said and punctuated her statement with a smile that took Alain's breath away.

"And Luna's and Gabrielle's conversation?" Apolline asked.

"Best guess?" Harry asked. At Apolline's slight nod, he continued. "Yes, well that... Gabrielle is likely asking Luna the best way to seduce Hermione. Luna is somewhat a master...er...mistress...um...expert at seduction," Harry stammered as Apolline's eyebrow rose higher.

"And you are not?" Alain asked, amusement clearly written on his face.

Apolline's eyebrow plummeted and she looked at Alain with incredulity. "Are you insane?!" she asked and waved her hands in the air before she pointed at Harry while her attention was still on her husband.

"First, he is a man. While he has matured somewhat, due to his gender handicap, he still only has the emotional range of a tablespoon," she began, then looked over at the shocked and hurt look on Harry's face. "Oh, very well then. The emotional range of a large serving spoon."

Harry smiled.

"Second, his upbringing was atrocious and would not have prepared him for any form of seduction," she paused as they both looked at Harry, who simply shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

"Third, this is Harry Potter. Likely he has never had to seduce a young woman to get one willing to bed him. He could probably stand in Diagon Alley in London, Middle Road in Hogsmeade, The Great Square in Paris, or any other magical enclave the world over and announce he wanted sex and quite nearly every witch and some wizards would race to be given the privilege of having Harry Potter," she said and again both looked at Harry. His hand covered his face and the bright red blush on his cheeks all but confirmed it.

"Has that happened, Harry?" Alain asked.

"Except for the announcing I wanted sex, pretty much. While it has gotten better, there are still witches out there more than willing to risk an encounter with Hermione or Luna to ravage me," Harry replied.

"Don't you mean ravish?" Alain asked.

"When they're tearing at each other to tear my clothes off, no. I believe I've stated it correctly," Harry replied and blushed a deeper shade of crimson.

"So, seduction," Alain replied.

"Luna may also be talking about Gabrielle's reasons for choosing now to join us. They could be discussing my shortcomings, the length of my..." he stuttered at Apolline's raised eyebrow, "...that is they could be discussing the weather. Likeliest topic is how Gabrielle wants to melt Hermione into a puddle of utterly, sexually-spent, ravished brunette. And that seduction will likely happen before our Union," Harry explained.

Alain's mouth opened and closed without a sound. His eyes were wide and unfocused.

The corners of Apolline's mouth turned up. "That is essentially what I expected their topic of conversation to be," she said in a nonchalant fashion, "but tell me Harry, doesn't it make you the slightest bit jealous?" she asked.

Harry smirked. "Apolline, you're joking. A beautiful young woman making love to my eldest wife would hardly make me jealous. Considering she will become my youngest wife shortly thereafter makes me feel more loved than you can possibly appreciate."

Apolline raised her eyebrow.

"Besides," Harry continued, "I get to watch!" he exclaimed, the brightness of his smile making even the sun envious.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-


End file.
